Tale of a Magus
by absolutezero001
Summary: The stage has been set,and the journey had begun long ago when that night happened. And now, one boy journeys across for the fun of the journey itself, but also to find his purpose in both worlds, if not one. And wherever he goes, chaos is sure to find out. This...is the Tale of a Magus. (A Wrong BWL fic)
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NEGIMA SERIES OR THE HARRY POTTER FRANCHISE! If I did, I would have done a much better anime version of Negima?!, as we ALL know about the certain atrocities in the anime series. The manga though could have used a more…definite ending per say, but I'm glad nonetheless. With the Harry Potter franchise, I would be rich and swimming in money. From all of the money I made off of all of you. And Harry would have ended up with someone different other than Ginny. Just my personal preference._

Speaking –"And here I thought this would be too easy"

Thoughts – _Damn it_

Demon, summon, demonized human, large being speech – "**Foolish ningen"**

Demon, summon, demonized human, large being thoughts – _**You amuse me**_

Spells, techniques, etc. – Ultima!

_**AN: And in companion to my HP crossover, this will be my own twist to the wrong BWL grouping. I have seen a version of how I started this story before, but I could not find it so that I can try and see what I can change and stuff. Oh well, probably got deleted in the Purge or something.**_

Ch 1: A Visit to Both Enemy and Friend

_**(Date: August 16, 2009)**_

In the calm, yet partly busy city of Cardiff, Wales, there lies a small family owned coffee shop. And in this coffee shop lies an interesting history. For many years it had stood in its rooted spot, proclaimed as a historic marker by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. While not big and fancy, nor placed all over the world like a certain coffee shop chain, this particular shop had been declared as a place for many interesting folk of famous lines.

But, the shop had not really been the host of any such modern day celebrities, save for anyone of the Royal Bloodlines. What it had been known for is actually a closely regarded secret, to the normal, mundane race of human beings. To certain cases, it is a sort of sanctuary, or a place of communing with their fellow man and woman.

And with hat kind of atmosphere in the mind, one can imagine the feeling of content that one deceptively young, 15 year old boy was getting while he enjoyed a cup of tea and brunch. The taste of the refined and coveted drink had graced his lips, just as it had done a while ago. Once the liquid had gone down the throat, the boy released a sigh of fulfillment. Such is the somewhat calm life he can live with.

He sets the cup down onto the table before taking off a piece of the French toast, made specifically to his order. Not that he had any real need to actually call for it, as it had been a common order for the boy every time he would visit the shop. And it tasted as if the multitude of Gods themselves had given their blessings to it.

But, what with all of this going on, the boy was stressed to some degree about a recent occurrence in his life. In the past few days, he had been getting the real nice feeling of something, or rather, someone had been tailing him. Reasons being, he did not know as of yet. The boy was sure that none of his 'fanbase' had been able to track him to this city. He would have known if he had been discovered by those creatures and then hightail it out of there.

And he was sure that none of his rivals or enemies that he had somehow made over the years where nowhere around the area, so they were out. Plus, if they had, he would have been fighting them as we speak.

As for friends, he knew only a small portion of the allies he had made that would do such a thing, but only when in the middle of a forest or training area at the schools he would visit. And if not, then the one person in his mind would have already tried to jump him, and fail miserably at that. As far as he knew, that particular person was not in the city, so she was out.

That would mean that this person was an unknown; the boy hated unknowns, as they were highly unpredictable and erratic, depending on whom, or whatever was coming his way. But, as much as he hated unknowns, his sensing abilities had judged the oncoming person as a VERY low level threat. And by low, he meant pathetically low.

That would mean that his stalker was one of _them_ again. Ugh. The boy could just feel his _excitement_ over the new arrival. And since he knew that the person was a complete pushover compared to himself, not to be a braggart and all, he had decided to wait it out and see how exactly was trying to find him.

This is what now leads us to our current location, where the boy was enjoying his brunch. He had chosen this place as a good confrontation place for a list of reasons. For one, since his stalker was likely one of their bigoted kind, he/she wouldn't know about how special this kind of coffee shop was. That had granted the boy the advantage of territory over the incomer.

Another reason was because of his reputation at not only the city and the restaurant, but to also of how well-known he is across the globe for being who he is and the accomplishments he had done. That would mean he had plenty of allies around, and with that, he knew for a fact that if things were to turn sour, then he would have plenty of back-up to make sure he wouldn't get hurt too badly. Besides, if magic didn't work, the boy was glad that he had a good eye for the pistol he kept concealed in his coat, and a good talent for the sheer ridiculous amount of swords he could make out of magic.

And the final reason, was so that he would get a chance to have that delicious brunch again. Oh Gods he had missed its irreplaceable tastes.

The boy was brought out of his musings as a familiar waitress came by. "Would you like a refill on your coffee, Mr. Craig?"

The boy's right eyebrow twitches out of irritation. "Please and thank you. And I've TOLD you Miranda to call me Harry. I'm not an adult yet."

The waitress, Miranda, giggled mischievously. "I know Harry. It's just so FUN to see my little lower classman get miffed."

"You DO know that I graduated with you, right?" the boy, Harry asked incredulously. "I feel that making me feel like a freshman is kind of redundant after the fact."

"Details, details. You're STILL the little boy that I had to be the Sheppard for," the young woman grinned.

Face met palms as Harry groaned out his ire while the woman continued on. "So, what brings you back to Wales, Harry? I thought you were still going to be at Mundus for a little bit longer."

"That would have been true, had I not find out that a friend of mine had just graduated," was Harry's answer while he cut some of his hotcakes and French toast apart. "I wanted to congratulate him while also seeing where he was going to continue his education before. I might as well help him too, since the boy is probably a mess without me there to help guide him along."

"He must need it if you're coming along then," Miranda grinned in response, before giving her charge a look of concern. "But you looked tense too? Is something the matter?"

A sigh came from Harry's lips. "Unfortunately, there is. I got one of _their kind_ from across the border tailing me. Been happening for the past couple of days, but I can only handle so much."

Miranda nodded in understanding. "I see. I will contact Jack about the potential bug. Who do you think is doing it this time?"

"I wouldn't know for sure Miranda, but I'm putting my money on a _certain MOB_," Harry growled out, anger showing at the thought of that bastard once again trying to interfere with his life.

"But you're cleared as an adult to through Mundus and the ICW, among other things. He shouldn't be able to use men to try and find you," Miranda tried to reason.

"That doesn't mean that volunteers will come, Miranda. So long as they aren't paid through his pockets or any governmental channel, he is…unfortunately safe."

Harry then turned his head to the direction of one of the doors to the Magica Coffee shop. "And I can feel him coming on in. Go and warn Jack and the others. Other than that, act natural."

The older woman nodded before leaving to the kitchen to do her assignment. Harry heaved another sigh from his lips, wondering on how things will turn out now. He knew that if the stalker was hostile, he was more than likely not going to get out of this unscathed, if not utterly humiliated due to the fact that the person was from the other parts of the UK.

_Might as well wait it out, for now,_ he told himself as he went back to his pancakes and French toast. Gods, they tasted divine.

It didn't take long for his supposed stalker to come into the restaurant. He could easily felt the increase in tension in the air, along with his peripheral vision catching the unusual movements of the workers and patrons.

He didn't bother looking up for the meantime, opting to just see if the person was either stupid about not meeting him upfront, or stupid for immediately going to him. That, and he didn't really want to see the man whose rancid smell belonged to.

He could hear the voice of the new person mutter to himself, low enough to where he would have to apply some specific environmental spells if he had wanted to eavesdrop. But he had no real need, as he could hear the short inhale of breath. That would indicate that he had found whoever or whatever was looking for.

"It IS him…," the voice muttered from ahead of him, loud enough to where he could hear it. That would confirm that he was looking for a person, and since the voice was directed at his direction, that would only minimalize the amount of persons on whom the stalker's targets are. It was further proven due to the fact that he knew that there were no other customers behind him; he now knew just who he was targeting.

Harry prepped himself for a confrontation in a manner hidden to the non-observant person. He first adjusts his chair and sitting posture slightly, so that he could stand up or roll over on an instant. He mentally glances at the rings on his right index finger, his right ring finger, and his left index finger; they only a portion of his Mystic Codes, his foci that he had collected over the years. They were normally the main ones he would use if he were to have the need for any somewhat complicated spells.

He wouldn't be able to use the higher counted ones, as of now, since his staff and sword were stored away in a special type of rune he had inscribed into his skin. This type of rune set was one of his own creation; and one out of pure accident, as it had the ability to store away objects into a pocket dimension. Should he need to call them, he need only to channel his prana into the rune before thinking of the object he needed.

But again, due to how _weak_ the signature was, he wouldn't even bother think of bringing them out.

The young man then calms his breathing, an exercise he had learned from one of his many teachers. While a good way to pass the time, Harry had found the exercise to be quite quite useful to do before having a confrontation with someone, or prior to a battle of sorts. He could feel the accelerated heart in his chest slow down, indicating that he was indeed calming himself, placing himself into a meditative state.

But it was only a semi-compete state, as he was still conscious, aware of his surroundings.

With his preparations complete, Harry returns to his brunch, enjoying the Gods given food before him. But in the short amount of time of his actions, the man had walked up to him.

"By Merlin, Harry, it IS you!" the man stated, releasing a sigh of relief. "You've NO bloody idea how hard it was to find you!"

Harry just continued to eat his brunch while saying, "I'm sorry sir, but I do not know of who you are. And trust me, the only reason you were somehow able to find me now is because I WANTED you to do so. Now, since you have now revealed yourself, could you tell me what business you would have with me?"

The man gawked at the teen before spluttering, "B-b-but Harry, it's me! Don't you remember? It's your favorite Dogfather, Sirius Black!"

The name, along with face and personal history flashed in Harry's mind, making him remember memories he would rather forget. But in doing so, his eyes hardened a bit, with them also flashing a golden color before turning to their normal emerald green.

"I'm sorry Mr. Black; I know of you, but I have NOT met you in the past. Nor have I had any sort of correspondence with you. You must have me confused with someone else," Harry calmly, yet curtly reproached.

"Harry, I know your face when I see it! You got James's face, and-and Lily's eyes! Come on, Merlin, you're a Potter!" Sirius tried to reason.

"Yeah, I KNOW that I am NOT a Potter, as my name is Harry CRAIG. I do not know of what is causing your delusions Mr. Black, but maybe you should see a psychiatrist to help you out. I'm sure they can also help you with your _other issues_," Harry rebuked again before taking another bite of his French toast. He could hear the slight giggling and snorts from his fellow customers and the workers around.

"Quit bullshitting me Harry! You're a Potter, not this…Craig!" Sirius ordered furiously. "Now, it's been too long and you've had your running. It's time for you to come home and go to Hogwarts like you should!"

A snort escaped the boy's lips before he turned back, glowering at the man. He could now see how little he had changed. He still wore that hirsute robe set from his memories, the shaggy, uncut, unclean hair, the yellow teeth, the _horrible breath_, the wand that he could see was clearly out in his hand, and the man crouching over by the door. Probably the man who was able to track him. He should deal with him soon, but now wasn't the time for a minor annoyance.

"Oh…I'M the one who's making this confounded story about me being a part of a narcissistic, overbearing, overrated, and bastard of a family like the…Potters. Get real Black. I am NOT a Potter, not in magic, not in paper, and CERTAINLY not in blood. So, if you would, PLEASE get rid of these SILLY delusions OUT of your head, get yourself cleaned up for Gods' sake, pick up the bastard children you've unclaimed, and remain in the backyard magical country you call home," Harry grounded out, his eyes flashing gold again. He was even leaking his aura out a bit as part of his intimidation. It was enough to where the other man had immediately run out. Pitiful.

Sirius was of course stunned at the boy's power outage, along with the insults hurled at him. And of course, since he could see that the boy was not going to come willingly, he would have to resort to some more…convincing manners. Not like they would have affected the boy in the first place, unknown to his knowledge.

Just as he was going for his wand to assert his age and authority, Harry had interrupted him by saying, "Oh, and before you try your own act of pitiful intimidation, know that I am an emancipated minor in the eyes of the ICW AND in Mundus Magicus, along with in the eyes of the Mundane law, and in Her Majesty's court. So no, you have NO power over me in that regard.

Also, I since I am an adult, that would make me a-"

"A…a…a magus," Sirius breathed out, stunned and mortified at what the boy was. The Magus were a different branch of wizards to them, with them automatically being declared as Dark Wizards in the eyes of the Ministry. But, due to the Ministries long, and I mean LONG history of it corrupt government and backwards lifestyles, it was never taken seriously…at all.

"But-but-but-but HOW?! J-james, and-and Lily, y-your brother! They were never THAT powerful!" Sirius spluttered out in indignation. "And-and Dumbledore would have known about it too, and trained you!"

"Like any of them would know about the extent and true power, coming from a backwards family hell bent on narcissism and a bastardized Nazism. And…what's his name? Dumblefuck?"

That earned him a round of snorts/laughter/giggling from around the restaurant, much to his amusement, and Sirius's ire.

"Anyway, I care not for what they could do, as I have had NOTHING to do with the lot. So, again, if you would please, escort yourself back to the _hovel_ where your came from, back to your Dodo Bird watching club or whatever it's called," Harry stated while he shooed him away with the hand motion.

But Sirius was not having it. He had his wand ready, the curse coming into his lips, but was stopped by something he did not expect. His wand was shot out of his hand and then embedded into the wall…by a bullet of ice. Were he not scared out of his mind, he'd had been impressed.

He turns to see the currently on manager of the Magica Coffee Shop, Jack, his staff in his hand. He looked miffed at having to do this for his special customer, but since he was Harry, he could let bygones be bygones. And as for the idiot gaping there…

"It would be best if you were to escort yourself and your friend back to England, Black," Jack ordered calmly, yet with a serious expression on his face. It was one that he would wear for his enemies, and anyone from THOSE areas were considered one of his. The fact that he was after his favorite customer/male friend only increased the temptation for him to bombard the countries and its backwards government.

Sirius looked around, seeing that pretty much the entire population inside the restaurant were moving against him, armed with whatever weapons they so choose, whether they be mundane or magical. It didn't matter, so long as the point had been driven home.

The man knew very well that he was outnumbered then and there. If Harry had garnered this much support for him, then doing what he had planned to do would end with him, and Potter family, and whoever else the associate with in a very bad light.

So as he made to leave the shop, Sirius called out to Harry, "This isn't over Harry! You're a Potter, no matter what you say! You WILL be coming home to where you belong!"

He then left, before disappearing with a pop. No one moved a muscle, just in case that the man or any of his allies weren't going to burst into the shop. Harry was even more ready to act, with his lips and mind already forming the most lethal, yet least collateral damage causing spells in his arsenal. And just in case they didn't work, his hand was on his pistol.

Minutes passed, and there were still no sign of attack or invasion coming in. Harry was the first to release a sigh of relief, somewhat happy at the fact that he wouldn't be doing any sort of fighting. His fellow customers were of the same mind, while discussing the follies of the madman and to the wizards across the border, or returning to their meals and previous discussions.

The boy's body just sagged in his seat while Miranda came by with the refill. "Here you go love. Made it myself, just the way you love it."

"Thanks love. Man, that was kind of intense there," Harry thanked while he sipped his coffee. A satisfied sigh was released from his lips too.

"I know. You looked like you were about to strangle the man," Miranda commented lightly before a frown came across her face. "But still, I thought that they were supposed to stop all that nonsense."

"Dumbles was, not Black or the Potters, or people not in the old fuck's pockets or close friend circle. The man must have found out about that loophole," Harry sighed. "And now that I can see it, I don't think that I can rearrange the ruling so that they ALL have to abide it."

"You can't boy. That's how it is for now," Jack answered as he strode over to Harry and Miranda. "I would refrain from staying here for too long, or around countries where that lot are tolerated."

"Great," Harry groaned into his hands. "Just what I needed. STILL don't know why the blasted tool keeps it up anyways."

"You know Harry. All of us that you know, know about it," Jack elaborated as he took a seat across from Harry, with Miranda taking a seat next to the boy. "That whole BWL debacle has got the whole area under the bird's spells again, and with you being…ya know…"

"With me being the _brat's_ older brother, Dumbles just doesn't want anyone who is in relation to the _brat_ out of his control. _*snort*_ If he wanted to do that, he shouldn't have shipped me off to that hell," Harry grounded out, his eyes flashing again at the spike of anger induced memories. "And Gods know if this is what my…_birth parents_ actually want. Now that they'll know about me being a fully licensed Magus and all, I'm SURE that they'll have me either weakened to do their bidding, or force me to teach the _brat_."

"No doubt in my mind that they'll try something at least," Miranda frowned, before looking at her 'little sheep' with a concerned expression. "I agree with Jack. You should probably get out of the UK or any allied with that _Ministry_ ASAP."

"Planned on it, but not before getting the information that I need."

"From who then, boy?" Jack asked. "Must be something important, or I could have been able to provide you with the fixins and stuff."

"True," Harry nodded, conceding to the fact that his fellow, yet older schoolmate was by far one of the best spy masters he knew. "But this is somewhat minor compared to those other ones. I got a notice that a friend of mine just graduated from the Academy, and I wanted to see where he was sent off to do his further studying and more than likely help him along with other stuff."

Jack raises an eyebrow at that. "Oh? Just who is the unfortunate bastard?"

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that too," Miranda added.

"Well, much to my amusement and dismay, our little brat, Negi Springfield, and his equally brat friend, Anya Cocolova had just graduated," Harry answered simply.

"Oh my!" Miranda gasped, actually surprised at the names. "They…he's just ten, and-and Anya isn't even that much older! Even YOU waited until you were near your thirteenth birthday before you moved up, and even then you chose to still study!"

Jack groaned while he moved his palm across his face. "I TOLD Nekane to let those two study longer! Guess she might have fell victim to the Springfield charm."

"Regardless, those two have graduated. I know for a fact that Anya is good since she is still staying with Nekane," Harry explained. "I've been told that she is a…fortune teller of all bloody things."

Beads of sweat rolled down the two's heads while Miranda said, "Wow. Can't see the girl as one of those…types of workers. Probably not handling it all too well."

Jack just laughed. "Wow. It amazes me of what is up with that girl!"

He then recomposes himself as he asked, "But what about Negi? Surely he's been sent to somewhere close?"

"That's what I'm here to find out Jack. I'm visiting Nekane to talk about that, and to catch up too. Haven't talked to her in a while," Harry stated. He then pulled out his phone as he further said, "And speaking of which, I should get going now. That way I will make it over there a little bit after lunch."

"Well, you have fun with that then. I'll keep in touch with the Brits over the border. Come on Mira, we got our work to do," Jack said as he took his leave.

"Be there in a sec Jack!" Miranda said before she rose, went over to Harry, and gave the boy a hug. "You be careful now, ya hear? I don't want to hear any more of your 'fantastic battles' through the channels."

"Can't promise you that love," Harry quipped as he returned the hug. "But still, I'll be on my BEST behavior!"

"Prat!" Miranda laughed while he smacked the boy on the shoulder.

"Tis part of the job love. Tis part of the job," Harry smirked before he rose and left a healthy amount of money. "Keep the change. I'll see you later."

"Bye Harry!" Miranda called as she waved at the teen. She may look happy on the outside, but she was still worried for him on the inside. That was the first time he had ever seen any of the…people from his horrible past. She'd just hope that he would be able to maintain his sanity through all the stress, and prayed that his companions would help heal the holes that still remained in his heart.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Well, here I am. It's been a while since I've seen this old house," Harry mused as he gazed upon one of the multiple Springfield cottages. It was a moderate house in the middle of the Welch fields, with healthy vegetation and gardens, a lake out in the distant with a forest. A nice place to live overall.

He took a breath and released it, steeling his courage for the upcoming visit. And then, he walks up to the front door, slightly thanking the Gods that neither Nekane nor Anya were out to catch him. He's wanted it to be a pleasant surprise for people to see him.

Just as he comes up to the door, Harry had drawn in another deep breath unconsciously. He didn't know why he was doing this, but then again, he hadn't seen Nekane and Anya for years. Gods know on how they will react.

He shakes himself loose of his nerves before knocking. He knocked, once, twice, and thrice in a row, loud enough to where he was sure that someone had heard…hopefully.

It would seem that he was right when he heard someone call out, "Coming!"

It was definitely a female voice, belonging to one about two years older than him. A smile formed on his face, seeing that this would be easier to him slightly…in some manners.

The door opened, revealing the ever cheerful Nekane Springfield. "Hello, what can I do for you today?"

"Well, I would like to see my favorite little brat, but seeing your beautiful face works just as well. It's nice to see you again, Nekane," Harry stated in a suave tone.

Nekane's eyes snapped open to see who would say something like that. All apprehension that had come up had immediately died then and there while a lovely smile formed across her lips.

"Harry, it's so lovely to see you again. And after so long too!" Nekane greeted before she hugged him tightly, to which Harry returned in kind. She then surprised the young man by giving him a chaste kiss on the lips, earning him a bright blush from the boy. "It would seem that my charm hasn't eluded you yet Harry."

"That's 'cuz you caught me by surprise is all," Harry grumbled, embarrassed at blushing in front of her.

"Oh you! You shouldn't be so embarrassed, we were each other's firsts after all," Nekane joked lightly.

Harry stared at her blankly. "Please don't say it like that. It sounds SO wrong when you out it like that."

"Oh, pish posh! You love it just as much as I do," Nekane teased while giggling.

"_*sigh*_ How in the 13 circles if hell did you become my first Pactio partner?" Harry groaned good-naturedly.

"Well love, there was the incident in which you have seen me in my knickers while you were spending time with Negi and Anya, and the time when you had sat with me during St. Valentine's day the year before your graduation, and then shortly after you-"

"OKAY! Okay, geez!" Harry stopped while he waved his hands across his body. "Enough with it! I get it! You don't gave to rub it in!"

"Isn't that the fun of it dear? I never get to mess with you like back in the olden days," Nekane asked cheerfully before giving the young teen another hug. "…it's good to see you Harry."

"You too Nekane," Harry greeted in turn, along with the hug.

The moment was nice, quiet, and almost good enough for Harry to try and give the young woman a kiss, but then, an annoying brattish voice had to ruin the moment.

"Nekane! Who's at the door?!" a girlish, shrill, and bratty voice called out from inside the house.

"So, guess that means the little twerp is here still?" Harry quipped lightly.

"Of course. It isn't time for her to leave yet. And at any rate, I am having her stay here and be her supervisor during her shifts. She'll need it where she's going," Nekane nodded in turn.

"WHO CALLED ME A TWERP?!"a fuming Anya shouted as she stormed to the front door. "I AM NOT A-_*gasp* _HARRY!"

She then rushed him, hugging him tightly when their bodies met. "When did you get here?! I thought you were still at Mundus!"

"Just got back Anya," Harry replied while he messed with the girl's hair. "So, how's my favorite little twerp doing?"

"I-AM-11! I AM NOT A TWERP!" Anya shouted comically while she shaking her arms. She then pointed a finger at her the elder boy while saying, "And I just graduated too! Earlier than you in fact, so you can't talk to me like that anymore!"

"Let me know when you grow a few inches and get more experience, and THEN we can talk about your twerpiness," Harry joked before giving the girl a stern glare. "And I thought I told you two to wait a few more years before moving on. Why did you disregard my warning?"

Anya had the decency to look ashamed while she said, "I tried Harry, but Negi just wouldn't listen! He just kept on going, like he didn't even know about your warning! I'm sorry~…"

"Harry, she is right. I tried to get Negi to hold back and take a break, but he wouldn't listen to reason," Nekane explained to the irritated teen. "He is determined to find his father, and to do that, he aspired to graduate as fast as he could. You know the result…"

A sigh was released from Harry's lips a little bit later. "I know, but that doesn't mean that the brat is ready. He's ten for Gods' sake; he doesn't know anything about the outer world and its cruelties."

He then looked at Anya as he further said, "I am glad that you did well, but just know that you have to be careful. Nekane will help you out, and so will I, but eventually come across things that will make the both of us sick with worry for you, especially with where you're going and all…"

"I'll be careful Harry," Anya nodded, taking the scope of his lecture seriously. "I'll be sure to call for help whenever I need it."

"So long as you know," Harry nodded before turning to Nekane, wearing a small smile. "Well? Aren't you going to invite me in Nekane?"

Nekane merely smiled before pulling both him and Anya in. "Come on in you two. I'll make us some tea to enjoy while you sit in the living area."

After getting settled into the small house and catching up with Anya a bit about her job, Harry had merely asked, "So, is what I said about England right?"

Anya nodded with a disgruntled look on her face. "Uh huh. People wearing cloaks had tried to take me away from my places, but I was usually able to bat them, or have Nekane scare them away."

"Well, I guess you're protected at least. Just be sure to watch out for anything that they will give you. They have a transporter spell that they will attach to objects that will teleport you away as soon as you touch them," Harry warden lightly.

"They can do that?" Anya asked.

Harry nodded grimly. "Yeah. Their called Portkeys, and were very troublesome when I had the unfortunate encounter with any of them. They had succeeded in getting me once with one of those blasted things, but my allies were able to bust me out of the cells before they could do anything."

"Yes, I seem to recall about that incident quite clearly," Nekane added in as she walked in with a tray of fresh tea. "You worried me sick with your stunt back then."

"I got out of it in the end you know," Harry reproached. "Those idiots didn't know about my rings or anything, so getting out of there was simple. Plus, (A grin came across his face) causing so much chaos there was actually a blast."

"That's cool Harry!" Anya gushed. "Wish I could be as strong as you in magic…"

"Don't worry, you'll get there," Harry stated as he patted the girl on the head, before he had to tease her. "I mean, without your precious Negi, you would be lost on anything."

"Of course, without my precious Negi, he-he-he-WAIT A MINUTE!" she exclaimed before she tried to hide her blush. "W-W-WHAT ARE YOU SAYING IDIOT?!"

"Just stating the truth is all," Harry shrugged, which led to Nekane giggling at Anya's expense.

"It is true too Anya. You do have an oh-so adorable crush on him. I'm surprised that you didn't have him activate a Pactio with you."

"~~~~~~~~~~~RRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Any screamed before she ran away. "NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO!"

After few minutes of hearing the girl shout out her refutes, Haryr just turned to Nekane as he asked, "So, mind telling where exactly the other one is? I thought he was here."

"Well," Nekane began, "That may be due to the fact that there is a serious lagging in the transportation of letters and such to and from Mundus. Negi has already been sent to his area of second studying."

"Ah. I…probably should have known that. I'd have gotten here quicker then," Harry nodded. "So, what is his job?"

"A school teacher."

Silence permeated the room, with the exception of Anya still screaming her refutes from her room. She wasn't likely to come out of there anytime soon. Harry takes a sip of tea to calm the storm in his head.

"So…a school teacher?" Harry asked slowly, as if he was trying to comprehend it. "Just…I don't even know where to begin with that. Is it a teacher for a magical school? Or a mundane primary?"

"Kind of, in a way," Nekane replied while she tilted her head in thought. "Negi's teaching teenagers over at Japan, at what he told me is somewhat of a boarding school."

"…_*sigh*_ great. I can tell how stress he is if he's teaching teens of all things. Anything else?" Harry groaned while he massaged his face with his hands.

"Well, apparently, the part of the school he is the teacher is an all-girl's section, so he has to deal with all sorts of drama concerning the teenage mind. You know that fully well," Nekane joked, which earned him a twitchy deadpan look from the young man. "And, from my letters from him, he did say that he had gotten in a fight with someone. He didn't tell me who, but he had increased his magical studies since then.

And…last I heard he was organizing a trip to Kyoto for his class."

Harry nodded, piling all of the information for later investigating via the said boy. "I guess I know where to go then. I'll see if I can straighten him to a bit so that he would survive a bit more teaching…teenage girls of all things."

He then straightened his back against the couch as he asked, "Where IS he teaching exactly?"

"Mahora Academy if I recall correctly," Nekane answered before taking another sip of tea. She then blinked before adding, "Oh, and I forgot to mention that Takamichi is there too. He's been helping Negi adjust mostly to his new job."

That was some more important information to Harry, as his eyes first widen at those two bits before narrowing them. The muscles in his arms tensed to a degree where he could easily crush the tea cup in his hands without a second thought, but he had better control than that.

_So…Takamichi…that is where you've been hiding. And if that is so, then that would mean that…Albiero is there too, along with…._

He now knew that he had to get to Mahora as soon as possible. This was possibly the best lead he had on those three, especially with the one in his mind currently. But he did make a comment that would throw off Nekane a bit.

"I see, then that would be good. I could visit a friend there I haven't seen in a few months. We've been talking through letters and such, but I think it will be a pleasant surprise for me to see her in person," Harry stated.

Nekane blinked again before asking, "Wouldn't it be-?"

"Yes. I'll see her while I'm around the area," Harry said as he rose from his seat, an empty cup in hand. "I should be going soon. Don't have much time to waste."

"Are you sure Harry? You could stay a little bit longer," Nekane pouted. "I haven't seen you in ages, and you are already raring to leave me behind. Oh, how your other girls must be feeling."

"I-it's not that I don't want to stay, I-I do! But I have to do some other business to take care of!" Harry tried to wave off. "And I DON'T just leave them behind…sometimes they want to stay and have a nice place to chill and all."

"Is that the reason why your three followers aren't with you?" Nekane joked, back to her happy self.

"…I'm not going to dignify you with a response," Harry grumbled as he sat back down. "BUT~, I suppose I could stay here for a spell."

"Good! I'll refill your tea and then we can talk about some of the _adventures_ you've been having in Mundus," Nekane said as she retreated back into the kitchen, leaving a sweating Harry behind. For some reason, he just knew that he may have walked himself right into a new mess of trouble.

_**AN: Alright, that takes care of this start. Now, as you can see, for this one, we don't know the extent of Harry's history in this one. AS of now, his name is Harry Craig, and he has a sort of absolute hatred for Dumbledore, Sirius, and the Potters. And since this is a WBWL type of story, you should get a general idea of his life.**_

_**Now, as he is a fully licensed magus in this one, that means that he has a LOT freedom as far as we know, and a good amount of experience in not only magical combat, but mundane combat. But as since he is only 15, he still gets in trouble, like when ie mentioned that time he got nabbed by the Ministry.**_

_**Also, you probably have noticed that I have used some terminology from another universe that does not coincide with the Negima-verse. This is done on purpose, and you will see just how it connects as we go along.**_

_**Now, pairing wise, since it is a Negima story, it is more than likely going to be a harem. For now, there are a unknown number of people who either DO have Harry's heart, or just his confidence. Nekane is a part of the former group, as it is mentioned that he has a Pactio with her. Just know that there is a plan behind this way of doing it, and as always, suggestions are good, but only if you give me a good enough reason.**_

_**I believe that I have said my case. So, **__**as always, please leave a review for me to see. And if you have any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, and/or compliments, leave it in the reviews or send me a PM about it. Until then, ja ne!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NEGIMA SERIES OR THE HARRY POTTER FRANCHISE! If I did, I would have done a much better anime version of Negima?!, as we ALL know about the certain atrocities in the anime series. The manga though could have used a more…definite ending per say, but I'm glad nonetheless. With the Harry Potter franchise, I would be rich and swimming in money. From all of the money I made off of all of you. And Harry would have ended up with someone different other than Ginny. Just my personal preference._

Speaking –"And here I thought this would be too easy"

Thoughts – _Damn it_

Demon, summon, demonized human, large being speech – "**Foolish ningen"**

Demon, summon, demonized human, large being thoughts – _**You amuse me**_

Spells, techniques, etc. – Ultima!

_**AN: Kind of a slow start, I know. but this is where things pick up a bit. Enjoy.**_

Ch 2: A Minor Distractions is All I Need

_**(Date: August 22, 2009)**_

Sirius gasps for air as he tossed in his bed again at 12 Grimmauld Place, the house where his family had loved in whenever they would stay in London, which in his recent memory, was quite often, staggering and wounded in some areas. Blood was dripping from some open gashes on his arms and legs due to the onslaught he had suffered under for the so-called mission.

He was sure that the mission would be successful, what with all of the work that he and the other Oder members had done to track him down, but oddly enough, when the time came, the boy wouldn't see reason. And it wasn't the fact that he was going through the rebellious teen stage, which he should have been applauding for.

No, the boy…well, he really shouldn't call him that anymore. The young man was indeed something to behold, if his scattered memory was able to pick up the aura put out. And, he did indeed hold some form of avarice towards him, and along with his true family, Dumbledore, and other Wizard folk along the Ministy's reach. And if were he to really have a sit down for himself and analyze the things he and the others had messed up on in accordance to him, then he would have a much better understanding of the situation.

But nonetheless, Sirius was never one to think with his head, but with his heart; that should be typical for a Gryffindor. His emotions were stressed to the point of snapping due to the failure of a mission and from being attacked nonstop for the duration after the confrontation. And so, it was now more or less egging him on trying to figure out on how to get Harry back.

But, there was another thing that came into his mind as he had stumbled into the living area. He didn't know how to break the news to his friends. They would be heartbroken once he would tell them that Harry had pretty much no intention of returning to Britain, if by his own volition. Not even an order from the Ministry wouldn't work, since what Harry had said about him being an adult in the eyes of many would more than likely be true. That would mean that not even Dumbledore could do a thing.

To think, that the one who they had all thought was a Squib, would in turn to be a Magus of all bloody things. That was another thing that had troubled him. While he was raised in the bigoted mindsets of the UK Ministry and such, he was no fool when it came to the Magus' and the higher ranks of magical folk.

He knew for a fact that they were more than likely not Dark Wizards at all, just a more advance form of their kind that their government just didn't take to. They were in fact even more powerful as well; powerful enough to where that there was probably a good chance that not even the likes of Voldemort or even Dumbledore could stand against a squadron of them.

And with how powerful and in control they are with their magic, it could only lead Sirius to the conclusion that there may have been some MAJOR miss-ups concerning certain topics.

He limped into the foyer with a groan, alerting everyone who was in the room. "Merlin, somehow better help me with these bloody wounds here!"

"SIRIUS!" everyone screamed as Lily and Poppy rushed the man.

"Are you alright Sirius?" Lily asked hurriedly while Poppy went over the basic diagnostic spells. "Merlin, where on Earth did you go to?"

"I'd tell ya-urgh-if ya would just get me to a chair," Sirius grunted.

"We got ya Sirius," Remus stated as he and James caught Sirius and carried him over to the tables.

"Geez Snuffles, think you got tossed around a bit?" James quipped with a grunt.

"You try what I have been through and we'll see how you like it," the battered man grounded out. "Now hurry! My legs are killing me here!"

They then set the man on a chair, which was the time when Poppy had finished her scans. "He's got some mean lacerations, fractured ribs, a fractured femur, some head trauma, and some…er, not so good curses inside him."

She then turned to the man as she further said, "While I can't give you a full report until after the initial treatment has been finished, just let me say that I wouldn't want anyone else going through what you did."

"Want me to get some pain and healing potions Poppy?" Lily asked with worry laced in her tone.

Poppy shook her head in the negative. "No, Lily. I got some better ones at the Hospital Wing. I'll just floo myself over there to pick them up. Meanwhile, try and heal some of the cuts. That'll make some of our work easier in the least."

The healing matron then left, which gave Remus the opportunity to say, "I knew that I should have went instead of you! Just…just what EXACTLY happened?"

Sirius grunted in pain while he felt Lily work on the bandages. "Trust me when I say this Moony. I'd rather be facing Death Eaters and my sister Bellatrix multiple times than doing THAT again."

"Oh come on! It was just a simple look, and if by chance, grab mission! What could have possibly gone wrong?" Remus asked.

"I would like to know that as well," an aged voice added in as Dumbledore, McGonagall, Pomfrey, and Snape entered the house via Floo.

Pomfrey had rushed to Sirius while muttering, "Bloody hell Sirius, I thought I told you to stay put in your bed! You're in no condition to be moving about!"

Sirius merely coughed up a cheek. "_*cough*_ Oh, lay off me woman! Us dogs can handle this stuff way more than the average human can!"

"Tell that to your wounds Sirius."

Snape just sneered at the cringing man. "It would seem that even you can't have the necessary mind power to see your wounds Black. Perhaps we should let the animal pound know about needing some euthanizing."

"I would have a something for you, but I'll just tell ya to shut it, ya git!" Sirius retorted lamely.

"And there will be none of this 'euthanizing business' going on here Snivelus. Why are you here anyway? Don't you have a potion set to mess with?" James sneered back.

Before Snape could file a retort, "McGonagall snapped at the three of them. "Silence, the three of you! Merlin, you still act like children in your elderly age!"

"Thank you Minerva. I was just about to add in my two cents on this rout," Lily added with a nod while glaring at her husband and friend.

Now, now, calm down. I'm afraid we have gott4en a bit off topic here," Dumbledore stated as he motioned his hands in a downward motion to calm the masses. It seemed to work, but not without the two Marauders glaring at Snape, who in turn was glaring right back.

Dumbledore then turned back to Sirius as he asked, "Now, I know that you must feel very tired after your ordeal, but it is imperative that you tell us about the status of the mission."

"Yeah, yeah. Just get me propped up onto something comfortable before I can start talkin'," Sirius waved off.

And with that, Both James and Remus lifted the man up from his chair and carried him onto the couch, where they had placed him. Remus then went back into the kitchen to fetch some beverages while the other guests of the Black house took a seat on an occupied place or just stood at a distance, which was what Snape was doing.

After Remus had returned with the some Butterbeer and Firewhiskey, Dumbledore starts by asking the man, "So, Sirius, would you tell me if you saw Harry around the area?"

James and Lily perked up at the mention of the name; though if one were to look in their eyes, it would be mostly out of surprise of the name and such.

Sirius snorted, out of contempt or whatever, no one was sure but him. "Well, I could say that I found him. Took me and Mundungus quite a bit to follow his trail before we were able to catch him at what I thought was just some modern pub, weird place and all."

"He looked like Harry alright, but there were some sharp differences," Sirius explained as he recalled the features of Harry. "Around 15, pretty tall and well-built, didn't wear glasses and wizard robes, just some Muggle stuff. He had your eyes Lily, which was probably what led me to think that he was him.

But other than that, he just had this…aura around him. Like yours Albus, but more wild and uncontained, yet controlled. And he didn't seem to have the slightest care in the world!"

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes slightly, just enough to where only Snape had noticed, if only barely.

"When I confronted him…_*sigh*_ that's where things went wrong," Sirius sighed out.

"What do you mean Sirius? Did he give you any trouble?" Lily asked quickly.

"Oh, come now Lils! It's just a boy! How could he have given an Auror any trouble?" James asked incredulously.

"Well, perhaps he could elaborate on it if only you were to shut it, Potter," Snape retorted.

James grew red in the face before Remus acted referee. "Hold it you two! Now's not the time."

He then gestured Sirius to continue, to which he did while still bearing the wrappings that Pomfrey was putting on his wounds. "Well, his name is Harry _Craig_. He couldn't stress it enough for me to get it. But, even though he looks and acts a bit different, I think that this IS our Harry. The problem is that he had also made it clear that he hated the Magical Britain area, and that he wouldn't go of his own free will.

And…well, he had said some-erm-very colorful things about you two and Dumbledore.

Well, anyway, after seeing that he was not going to go quietly by showing that…(Here Sirius shudders at the memory.) that magical aura, I was going to use that spell you recommended me Dumbledore. Mundungus would have helped too, had he not turn tail, the bloody git.

But, my wand was thrown off my hand by a…well, a bullet made of ice. A Bullet made of ice! Merlin, if I weren't scared for my life, I'd be impressed. But, save for that, I was…unfortunately outnumbered by the whole lot of magical folk in the pub. Didn't know that they were there, but I knew that I had little choice but to flee, but not before I made sure to tell Harry that it wasn't over."

After a few minutes of silence, McGonagall had to ask after a thought came into her mind, "But, Sirius, you said that you were able to escape. Why were you so badly injured then?"

Sirius grimaced when the memories flowed into his mind. "Well, lucky me, I had a whole bunch of magical folk and Magus of all people at each Apparating point. And Merlin, did they show that they meant business! If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Harry had called them all out to make sure that he was not to be messed with!"

James narrowed his eyes as he growled out, "So, we got Magus folk in on this? Don't know why they had bothered with helping a Squib."

"Yes, that does sound troubling," Remus nodded in agreement. "Though I should mention that the ones that I've met are actually nice gents."

"That doesn't matter Sirius! Harry could be held hostage and-and be Imperiused by them for all we know!" Lily tried to reason. "He-he would have no defense against such a thing, so-so he could just as easily be controlled! That MUST be it!"

Pomfrey sighed and shook her head at her friends' ignorance to what had been said, which Snape had no mind in pointing out.

"If you all had actually paid attention, then you would have heard that Harry had put out a 'magical aura'. The boy is by no means a Squib, and is more than likely trained too if he as 'well-built' as you described it Black."

Dumbledore jumped right in on this with a denial. "I am afraid that is impossible. I had checked the boy's core, and it showed no ounce of magic in him. He could not have been able to do that."

And if the boy had been able to, he had made sure to put on the necessary blocks to prevent such a thing.

Snape had rolled his eyes at his 'boss's' denial. "Please, don't be coy with me. And unlike you all, I had actually done my research on this. There had been instances when one's core sparks at a later date. I recall that the Longbottom boy was of the same condition?"

Pomfrey then added in with her two cents. "That is correct. Us Mediwitches are trained to catch such a thing, and have been provided with the necessary spells needed in order to properly diagnose such a case and provide the proper countermeasures. I myself have done such a thing quite a number of times during my tenure at St. Mungo's.

If Dumbledore had been able, he would have glared at both her and Snape for letting such important information out. But it would seem that the message had been received, as both Potters', plus Remus and McGonagall had paled and connected the dots.

"Merlin…we…we…I think we made a _terrible mistake_," McGonagall sighed out, with a raincloud hanging over her head.

"But-but-but that is just impossible! Dumbledore just can't have made a mistake!" James spluttered out of indignation.

Remus seemed to be in the same mind set, but he knew that the fact HAD to be considered. "I…I…well, I-I guess that we-erm-well-"

Lily was just in tears at the possible implication of once again, making _another mistake_ concerning her possible elder child. She had made the mistake once of sending him to her sister, the Dursleys'. That had ended up her boy going missing. The second mistake was after sending him there, just putting him in the back of her mind, only for her to see that very same paper regarding him. And now, there was the fact that she had once again, failed at not only being able to be a mother to him, but to also mistaken him for being a Squib. And to think that the stress of handling one younger boy and an even younger girl were added up into it.

Dumbledore, still being one that had remained calm, had just turned back to Sirius as he asked in a calm, but in a more forcefully controlled manner, "My boy, Sirius, if what you said is true, then we may be able to have him come to us by order of the Ministry. After all, all British Magicals must attend Hogwarts. Did Harry show any magical presence?"

Bar the fact that he had blatantly forgot to remember that he and the Ministry could not do that due to a certain contract drawn up and signed by the charging bodies. There were also other factors as well.

Sirius snorted again. "As I said, yes, he did. And…well, I don't think you could get him by order of the Ministry…or by your order, or by even the ICW for that matter."

At the questioning or stares pointed at him, Sirius sighed again at having to break the news. This was not going to be pretty.

"Well, according to what Harry had said, he had been declared as an adult through the ICW, the Muggle Queen Elizabeth something or other, and that…well, he called it Mundus, so I'm not sure on that implication. And I am sure that it has even gone through other political channels. That aside, well, he is...is…_*sigh*_ he's a magus."

Silence permeated the area while everyone digested the words. One could even hear the soft gasps coming from the ladies' lips while some of the men had collapsed into their chairs.

Snape though seemed to be contemplative on the situation. He knew very well that this was more than likely to be true, since Wales was quite infamous for it being Magus Territory, no matter how hard the bigoted and foolhardy Ministry would try to make it not so. But that is beside the point.

What mattered was a certain prophecy that a subordinate under him had told Voldemort, and how it regarded to the Potter children. The brat of the family, Lucas had practically no talent in magic whatsoever, no matter how much he would brag and preach about it. Facts were facts, and even the elder students at Hogwarts and those who had the unfortunate opportunity to interact with him would have seen that as well.

But, to the fact that the elder Potter child, Harry, being a Magus was startling to the Potions Master. The power needed to even be qualified to go in those schools was just too big for what the Wizard-kind in Britain and other like-minded counties could even begin to handle. That is why the jealous fools had merely branded as Dark Wizards and such.

But to the point that the supposed NOT-Squib Harry having that kind of magical prowess was lining up some points that he had missed. He would have to find the boy and have a talk with him on his own terms in order for him to come up with a decision on his part. He was sure that he would make a good conversationalist, considering the fact that one so young is a Magus, AND having a dislike for the Potters and their associates. The latter was just a plus on his side.

McGonagall was the first to recover from her shock. "Are you sure about this, Sirius?"

The battered man nodded solemnly. "As much as I would like to believe it a mere dream, I can't deny it. Merlin, the boy's got magic in him. And he was too serious for him to be lying about being, well, a Magus.

Now, I doubt that even the likes of you Dumbledore could get him back on our soil, on his own terms of course."

The said man had only remained like a statue on the outside, while on the inside, cursing the high heavens and hells for this miscalculation. If the brat were to indeed be a Magus, and have permission of that damnable realm Mundus, then he was indeed far out of his reach.

And judging from Sirius's tale, the brat seemed to be very influential, if not well-known. That would mean that making the boy suddenly disappear would cause a stink in the political arena, where he was for surely going to be on the end of many unfriendly persons. He would have to relent, just a little bit for the meantime until he could come up with a plan.

He had to get the boy under his control, if the prophecy were to in turn point to him. And he would do so, for after all. It was for the Greater Good.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::

_**(Date: August 23, 2009)**_

_**(Location: Kyoto, Japan)**_

There had been often times during his life where one Negi Springfield would curse the high heavens on what he did to deserve all the trouble he had to go through in his life. There was the disappearance of his father, the time when he had mistaking and stupidly summoned a mass of demons that had killed his cousin's and friend's parents along with a good majority of that village, the time when he had somehow angered a herd of centaurs by mispronouncing a name, the time when he had single-handedly stripped certain out of their clothes in front of an entire university, and then the certain incidents during his tenure as a teacher…a teacher of all bloody things.

In the back of his mind, he could just see the glare being sent to him by his surrogate elder brother. One of which that would be accompanied by a harsh lecture of how he told him so, how he should have planned better and how he should have waited longer and earned more at the university. Oh, he could just hear the smugness in his tone from his memories even now.

Now, the main reason on why Negi here is thinking these things is because of a list of things. It was the summer trip before the next semester at his school, Mahora Academy; a trip to Kyoto that was accompanied by a mission given to the child teacher.

It was nothing more than a simple delivery mission. You know, merely him taking a letter over to the Kansei Magical Association and have a good time with his class. But damn it all, thing just had to go south. First, there was the incident with the frogs invading the bus. He still wondered just who exactly summoned there, but he had almost ended up losing the letter during the scuffle.

Luckily, it had been retrieved, but then he had been led on by a paranoid ermine of a companion, Chamomille into suspecting one of his very own students being against him. Luckily, that had been cleared up and Setsuna had been working with him and her fellow classmate, Asuna in making the trip safe and the mission a success.

And then there was that kissing game that had been spurned due to another one of his students, Kazumi finding out about his mage status and the somewhat stupidity of Chamo. That had led to him kissing another one of his students and her getting a Pactio with him, to which he had only just found out about the previous day.

And then there was all the sense of these people trying to kidnap another one of his students, Konoka. First, it was Chigusa and her…monkey shikigami during the middle of the night. And then there was during the previous day, where he had to fight off an inu-yokai and a swordswoman that had sent Setsuna on edge for quite a bit, with the latter being done in public of all things. And then there was now, to where he had thought all was said and done, the people here had attacked the manor, petrified the staff, including Konoka's father, Eishun, and had again kidnapped Konoka.

After pursuing chase with whoever was not petrified, and going through an onslaught of minor yokai that were being handled as of now by some of his students, he had come face to face with one of the toughest opponents in his life. And add onto the fact that the Kensei woman, Chigusa was using Konoka's magic to summon some sort of primordial demon or whatever. All that mattered to him was getting to Konoka and rescuing her.

And things were going…well, pathetically concerning his side of things. He had only barely managed to damage the boy he was fighting, Fate if he got the name right, and he wasn't even close to getting to Konoka. Of course, help had come in the forms of Setsuna, who was now sporting a beautiful set of wings and Asuna, who was now sporting her Pactio armor and weapon had lightened things up considerably.

But the fact of the matter was that they were still not able to rescue Konoka. And the twilight hour of their battling was drawing near; Negi could tell that at least.

But, getting back to the present and things, Negi grunts in pain before he uses Shundo to try and pivot around Fate and catch him by a spell he had been building up. But the boy had easily caught onto his plot and had merely blasted him away.

"Aniki! Are you alright?!" Chamo called from atop the boy's shoulder.

Negi spat out blood as he stood up, ready to charge again. "I…Yeah, I am. But, I am not sure on-"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Konoka screamed from the ritual circle, with the smirking Chigusa reveling in her pain.

"Damn it!" Negi cursed as he saw Setsuna and Asuna be swiped away by Chigusa's clay dolls.

"Oh come on! When are these things going to quit!?" Asuna complained as after failing yet another attempt at getting pass them.

"Ojou-sama!" Setsuna grunted as she readied ye another Shundo. "Damn you to hell Chigusa, when I get my hands on you-!"

"You can try and swear as much as you want, but it's not going to change things," the monkey woman replied nonchalantly, not worried in the slightest. Her smirk grew even crueler as she said, "And to that point, I believe that we are ready."

And with that, Konoka's screams were even more unbearable to the good guys fighting to rescue her. And to make it even worse, the being that had emerged from the lake behind them was now becoming animated.

Coming up with an impromptu plan on the fly, Negi Shundoes around Fate again.

"Foolish boy, you think that this will work again?" Fate taunted haughtily.

"No, but I got something else in mind!" Negi replied as he pressed his Ki in the manner he had been taught before, allowing him to solidify the air at his feet and Shundo away from Fate. His opponent had obviously been slightly stunned at that before he had made his move to block Negi.

Regrdless of which, Harry thrusts out his staff as he called out, "Asuna, Setsuna, go get Konoka now! Viginti quinque cadentium fulminum!"

The attack was effective in the boy's intent, which was blasting the two golem shikigami away from the two swordswomen. That was more than enough of an opening for them to make their move.

"Thanks Negi/Arigatou, Negi-sensei!" both girls chorused as they charged in.

Chigusa was obviously unprepared for such a thing happened so soon, which in turn had led to Asuna snatching Konoka and storming out of the area. Setsuna had also launched herself at what she could only say as an uncompleted summoning, which looked like more of bastardized clay demon than demon lord.

"Damn you all!" Chigusa cursed violently. "You fucking brats ruined the ritual!"

"It matters little Chigusa. The oni should have enough power for it to wipe them out," Fate stated before he casted his emotionless eyes toward Negi. "You…boy…have again impressed me."

"Yeah! How do you like that?" Chamo taunted from Negi's shoulder. "And we still got a lot more up and ready to come at ya!"

Negi swallowed a breath along with some spit in his mouth before smirking at his opponent. "I agree with my friend. I can still beat you."

That was a lie, and he knew it; but the fact that he had surprised the boy again was a definite confidence booster for him. He couldn't help but put in a little boast to, hopefully, get the boy to retreat.

Fate snorted though. "Not likely. You are at your limits, while I have only barely used 25% of my resources. Granted, you are much more difficult than what the reports on you have said, but you still stand little chance against me."

Fate then lifted his right hand, calling forth magic into it. "And now, I shall end this fight here and now before you become a threat."

Negi could do little to hide his shock and pain. And it looked very much like Fate was about to blast him or at least petrify him to end the fight. But then, help came in the form of explosions.

"Tch!" Fate grunted as he evaded the missiles aimed at his area. "This is annoying."

"Target locked, proceeding to fire," a robotic, female voice said before an onslaught of missiles and laser beams were thrown at the magus.

"My, it would seem that the bouya is having a little problem," a much younger, yet more sinister female voice called out.

Negi gasped as he turned around to the source of the voice, with disbelief clear on his face. "Evangeline!"

The very same loli vampiress only chuckled haughtily. "The very same bouya. I heard from a little birdie that you were having some…minor complications and were in need of some back-up. Be happy that I was generous to come."

"But I thought that you were stuck back at Mahora!" Asuna called out from her spot.

"The old man is taking care of that," Eva waved off nonchalantly, while a glimmer of vindication showed in her eyes.

Fate narrowed his eyes at the newcomers while a red-faced Chigusa snarled at them. This was certainly not going according to her plan. Not in any way whatsoever.

"GGGRRRRAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH! Screw this! You, go get the little damned punks!" Chigusa snarled out.

The Oni only let out a bellow before it begun to trudge forward to the fighters. Setsuna, having recovered from being swatted away, had taken into the air again with her sword in hand and a snarl on her face. Asuna was with her, her Pactio weapon now in that badass sword-thing she had used earlier, along with a faint glimmer of knowledge in the back of her mind.

The girl had only shaken her head out of the thoughts only through instinct, or rather some manner of force before charging in and deflecting a magical laser blast. "Come on you-you yokai! Lemme see what ya got!"

"Hmph. This is barely of a challenge," Eva scoffed before she channeled her magic. "But, nonetheless, I will have my entertainment."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::

Meanwhile, at the outskirts of the battlefield, a cloaked figure was jumping around the perimeter. He had only just arrived in the city the previous day and had decided to begin his search in the city in the next day. He was sure that he would be able to find them, since there were plenty of reports and such about certain unorthodox incidents that really didn't add up to the mundane.

Harry had of course immediately linked it to Negi and his class. He knew little of the truth behind the incidents, but he had the distinct notion that he was somehow involved in it in some kind of manner.

But, come today, he could only curse himself for not being able to go straight over to the Kansai Association manor. Had he made himself get his lazy arse over there, he would have been a part of the retaliation force that would have fended off whatever had petrified them.

He had already set up the bounded field needed to cure them of that ailment, but there were now three problems on his list. First, there was the rather small horde of yokai off in the distance. He would have made it to interfere then and there, but he had then sensed a familiar presence there along with some rather young, yet decent Ki sources battling them

He had felt that they would deal with it just fine and had left it at that.

Now though, there was the fact that the idiot woman was summoning up a class C bastardized yokai a friend of his had personally sealed up being risen eyed in with the soul of Eishun's daughter of course. And then there was the fact that an Averruncus, if he remembered the distinct magical signature right, of all people were there too. Joy.

But, he digressed at the fact that he didn't recognize the magical signature of this one. That would mean that he was either new to the game or just someone he wasn't aware about which would have been a sore point on his side and pride. There was also the opportunity to put the kid, judging from the fact that the signature was as young as Negi's, out of his misery before he would have become annoying.

And with that in mind, Harry had set out to do the appropriate measures to ensure that his impromptu plan would come to fruition. Oh, how he would have enjoyed the aid of some of his Pactio holders, but that wasn't something he had to think about. He had to act fast, so that he could not only end this quickly, but get to _her_. He was sure that she was here, and he knew that for a fact.

And may the Gods help the bastards in his mind if they had done anything to harm her mind. Not that he'd let them do so anyway. Not even the dark overlords of the netherworlds could help them. But this is beside the point.

Harry had placed an ofuda on a tree before channeling magic into it. The ofuda then proceeded to burn before absorbing itself into the tree, enacting the functions of the runic markings he had set up. The point of the bounded field for the area was set, and now he had to Shundo over to the next area.

But before he does so, he casts a glance over in the direction of where the main fighting was happening.

_Please…Asuna. Be safe. Wait for me. I'm almost there._

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::

"ARGH!" Asuna screamed as she clutched her head in pain. "AGH-DAMN IT! WHY NOW?!"

"Asuna!" the now awakened and somewhat covered Konoka screamed out over her friend. "Are you alright? Maybe y-you should take a short rest."

Asuna would have had an answer along the lines of a denial or something like that, but the pain in her head was too great for her to form a proper coherent sentence. Out of it, she falls to her knees, still clutching her head.

_Leave. Leave the area._

"NO!" Asuna screamed out. "I don't know what you are, but I'm not going anywhere!"

_No! You must leave now! Do it!_

"HELL NO!" Asuna asserted as she shook off the voice in her head. "I'M STAYING, AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME!"

_You fool! Leave now!_

"Asuna, watch out!" Konoka called out.

Asuna could only watch as the oni had launched a dark fire spell that was coming towards her. She couldn't move due to the voice and whatever force out there crippling her. In the back of her mind, she wondered if this was it, if this was how she was going to die.

But that trail of thought had ended as quickly as it came, an image passed through her mind, one that showed her at a younger age along with a familiar looking boy. She couldn't decipher much from it, but she could see her younger self deflect a fire bolt to the side. The action was in a loop, though the younger Asuna looked a bit more tired after each block.

"_Come on Asuna! I know that you can last longer than this!_" the boy shouted.

"_Speak for yourself *pant* *pant* *pant*! You're not the one doing this!_" the younger Asuna shouted back.

"_I would if I could, but I only know…nothing about my eyes,_" the boy admitted sheepishly. "_Besides, weren't you the one begging me to help train you?_"

"_I know, I know! But can you *pant *pant* lighten up a bit?_"

The boy shrugged nonchalantly, which seemed to make the younger Asuna grow a tick mark out of irritation, while the older one smiled in reminiscence. The older one could feel that tightness in her heart, like the many times she had been through something like this. The boy would just make her heart warm up and be on the fritz like a raging storm in the middle of the oceans.

Back to the vision, the boy readies himself again before calling out, "_Okay Asuna, just remember what you felt, pull it out, and block my spell. Okay?_"

This was when the vision faded into nothing ness, much like the previous ones she had. And then, a soft whisper came into her head. It was much more soothing than tha irritating one from before.

…_A…u…na….blo…k_

…_As…na…bl…ck_

_Huh?_ The present Asuna thought to herself as she tried to discern the distant voice.

_As….un….a…..blo…ck…bl…..ck!_

"That…sounds like my name?" Asuna asked herself slowly as she tried to still figure out what the voice was saying.

_Asuna…Asuna…block!_

"Block…? Block what?"

She was then snapped back to reality as the familiar male voice yelled out to her, "ASUNA, BLOCK NOW!"

As if going by instinct, she pulls out her right arm and catches the dark fire spell. It should have burnt her. It should have maimed, if not killed her then, but it didn't. The spell had in fact been stopped in its tracks.

Asuna opens her eyes that she had closed upon impact, as if she was hesitant, or rather not ready of the results. She was of course somewhat shocked that the spell had been stopped cold on her arm, with it still trying to burn her or at least get passed her. But she wouldn't do that. No, she would do something else.

Her instinct took over again as she pushed through the spell, only to deflect it right back at the enemies. The fact that it had in turn made an impact on Chigusa was a bonus on her part, for the damned woman got what she deserved…well, part of that anyway.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Chigusa screamed as part of her clothes and arms were scorched by the spell. "What the hell happened?!"

"…interesting," Fate muttered as he analyzed what just happened. "Perhaps…maybe…"

His train of thought was interrupted then by Chachamaru landing a solid kick to the boy's side, and then volleyed off by Negi.

"You're annoying," the boy muttered while he held his now dislocated shoulder.

"Well, _*pant*_ then I know that I'm doing well!" Negi taunted in between pants.

"Negi-sensei, should we not neutralize him?" Chachamaru asked in a monotonous voice.

"No! N-no, capture him. We need to find out just who he works for!"

"Hai."

"Capturing me will not be easy," Fate stated, before he popped his shoulder back into its socket. He still held his dull face, which gave no vindication that he was in pain.

"Hm~, I beg to differ," Eva quipped as she brushed her nails. She casted a glance at the now frozen oni in the distance. "We've just finished off your little creature. I may have been halved of my power, but it was still no match for me!"

Chigusa, who had to jump away from being frozen, now stood next to Fate, frothing at her mouth. "You…you…you…!"

"Yeah, US!" Asuna shouted back. "We just stopped your plan, and now you're outnumbered! What now?!"

"This…this is something I did not anticipate. But not something that I can't handle," Fate stated before taking a deep breath. "Ο Μονολιθος Κιων Του Αιδου!"

Just as he finished the incantation, Fate thrusts his hands onto the ground. The effect was immediate, as stone pillars began rising from the earth. Everyone scattered to avoid being tossed into the air, but that was part of the boy's plan.

He uses his natural speed to come fly by the other mages, coming up to a few feet from Eva. He held out his hand, before saying, "You are the most dangerous, and therefore, must be eliminated. Die. Πνοή Πέτρας!"

He then breathes out a dusty smoke, which Eva knew from her translation was not a good thing. She could easily move out of the way with her speed or her teleportation, but had thought better of it to counter it. After all, it would be thoroughly amusing to her to see the brat's own spells reflected right back at him.

But before she could act, Negi had to run interference due to him not knowing what Eva had planned. Sure, his intentions were noble and just, just like his personality. But sometimes, nobility can be the end of a person.

"B-bouya?! What the hell are you doing?!" Eva shouted as she was pushed away.

Negi couldn't answer that, as he was engulfed in the dusty smoke. The effect was slow at first, but the boy could feel his joints becoming stiff and cold. Maybe, just perhaps, that what he did was not such a good idea.

He tried to inhibit the spread of the petrification, but he knew that someone would have to act on the outside in order to save him. And due to the fact that there was no such mages with the proper capabilities, he knew that he was doomed.

As he fell to the ground, he could hear the faint cries of his students and friends calling out to him. Try as he might to understand them, he knew that he could not. It was a futile effort.

Fate stared at the boy with a look of apathy while the other people were running to him. He could not for the life of him understand just what was so important about him to those girls. He was trash, trash for his poor skills, trash for his feelings, and trash for taking a blow for a comrade. It made no sense at all, that someone as low as that boy to do something so foolish.

IN the end though, he scoffed at the boy. "Trash. He should have let the girl take the blow, but in the end, trash helps trash. Not really surprising at all."

"I will agree that I share some of the sentiment," Eva stated, an angered look marring her face. "But…that bouya…is MINE TO KILL!"

Fate prepared to battle once again, with a spell ready to come out of his lips. And the words would have come out, had there not been a shrill scream of fright/pain coming from Chigusa.

"AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

A dull thud was sounded from behind. He would have ignored it in turn of battling the gothic girl, but the said girl was looking now perplexed, if not amused at what she just saw, if the smirk she now wore was to say anything about it.

Curiosity had then gotten the better of him, causing him to turn around. And that was where shit had hit the fan, as now, Fate Averruncus was now face to face with a pissed of Harry Craig, who in turn had his eyes shining gold out of rage.

"Bad move…bouya," Harry said before he commanded the boy to fly with his magic. And fly he did, before Harry holds him a choke hold with his magic.

Walking forward, Harry went off as he thought on what to do next. "Now…what to do with you. I could just as easily kill you here and now, but that would be a mercy. And now, I don't think that I have the capabilities to give such a thing. I can tell you know who _exactly_ I am, so you are probably wondering of all the things you could do to try and get away. Sadly, no such thing can be done.

I have already sealed this place up nice…and…tight. There would no escape for you, as your kind are always slippery little buggers. Come to think of it, I think that I can use you. What say you becoming a part of the Clock Tower? I'm sure that there can be certain things done to you in order to know every, single, aspect about you: mind, body, magic, and soul. Does that sound…oh, I don't know…_fun?_"

"H-h-how did you get here?" Fate managed to get out through the choke hold. "I-I had-d this _*cough*_ area sealed!"

Harry smiled at that evilly, which looked simply _divine_ to Eva. "A distraction was all I needed to get through that piss poor construct you call a bounded field. You should know that by knowing who I am…that only the higher ranks of your little organization can stand a chance against me. You though, are nothing more than a little, bitty, _ant_."

Then, with a thrust of his hand, Harry made the boy fall to the ground hard enough for a crater to form at the impact zone. A bored look in his eyes formed as he stared.

"You know, I could let you go too, but since you pissed me off. You can kiss your freedom goodbye. Ligatis!"

Fate was now bounded by ropes of light that seemed to get stronger by the second. He knew, then and there, that he was captured. There was no escape, let alone any assurance of his life. And as he realized this, the second effect of Harry's spell begins to take effect. The last thing that came to his mind was simply him questioning his existence before his consciousness was lost.

After ensuring that Fate wouldn't be getting up any time soon, Eva commented o0n what she saw. "My~, my~, that was deliciously evil~. Tell me, what brings the _Ater Acie_ to our parts?"

Harry stared at the vampiress blankly before he shrugged. "Well, a list of things mostly, some of them pertaining to the brat there, and among other things."

He then stared at her for a few seconds before asking, "You wouldn't happen to be the _Maga Nosferatu_, Evangeline A.K. McDowell?"

Eva seemed to brighten up a bit at being recognized by an iconic grey mage, and merely flipped her hair. "Why, yes my good man. I am Evangeline. Tell me, what gave it away?"

"Well, the fuckton of ice over at that pond is a sure giveaway, as you are probably the only magus that I am aware of that is capable of such a thing," Harry deadpanned while pointing to the still frozen oni. "And also, I can literally _feel_ the Magia Erebea coming out of you. Again, you are the only one that I know of that had done such a thing, and remain somewhat sane."

"Oh~? You know of the Mgia Erebea?" Eva asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Only from my studies about you, and from what my parents and some friends have said about it," Harry explained with a shrug. He then turned to the group of girls who were still trying to keep Negi un-petrified.

"Well, I suppose I should work on the brat."

"Yeah, we should do that," Eva nodded absently. "But, tell me, how do you know the bouya?"

Harry snorted. "Know him? He and a friend of his were my charges while I was at the Welch Magus Academy. I also know him through his cousin, one of my pactio partners. Speaking of which, she may kill the little bugger for this little stunt."

"She can have what's left of him after I'm done with him, if you don't mind?" Eva asked. She wasn't sure on why she had to get his permission for it, but something inside her gut had told her that for some reason, he was interesting and someone to be respected.

"So long as I can add my two cents in it and if you owe me a favor, then we have a deal," Harry bartered.

Eva agreed, not seeing a problem with it at all. And for some reason, again, she felt like she could trust the boy a favor from herself. Her gut merely told her that it would soon be an interesting favor.

Harry then walked up to the group of students surrounding the brat. But before he could try and get the situation under control, he is met at sword point from the tengu-hyrbid.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Setsuna asked threateningly.

Harry raised an eyebrow of disinterest at her. "Really? Considering on the fact that I had just saved you all, you point a sword at me? Is that really how you greet your savior?"

Setsuna blushed out of embarrassment while the still barely covered Konoka ran up to the two. "Enough! Se-chan, its fine. Sorry about her, but…well, Negi-kun…"

"Don't worry. Let me see if I can do something with the brat miss…?"

"Oh, Konoe Konoka," Konoka greeted. "And this is Setsuna. W-wait, you said that you can help Negi-kun?!"

Harry nodded as he observed the unconscious boy and the stoned body parts. "Pleasure to meet you two, though I wished it were under better circumstances. And the name's Craig Harry. And, to answer your question, well, not really, but I have a theory of which will surely help out."

He then blinked, as if he had noticed something. But before he could go into that train of thought, arms were encircled around his shoulders, allowing him to smell an all too familiar scent.

"Asuna?" Konoka asked softly.

_WHAT?!_ Harry exclaimed before turning his head around.

And lo and behold, there was the girl he had been searching for. Her arms will still wrapped around him, companied by the wetness that was forming on his shoulder. He smiled softly at this, knowing that she was probably just ecstatic at being reunited with him. But, as much as he would like to talk to her, something inside him told him not all was well.

With great hesitation, Harry unwraps himself and kindly lifts Asuna's head with his left hand. Of course she was crying, but he knew from the get go that this was not her…er, well, not her as far as he knew. It was still the same Asuna, as he could feel the same feeling of content wash over him whenever he was in her presence. But, her eyes weren't the same. Yes, there was happiness, joy at that, but, it looked like something was overshadowing them. The fact that he had remembered her not having heterochromiac eyes was a bonus at that.

"Asuna," Harry called softly, somewhat dreading what he was going to ask, "do you remember me? Do you know who I am?"

Asuna stared at him for a few seconds, trying to process the question. She could get the name, but as soon as she tried to reach further, the pain came again.

"AUGH!" Asuna screamed as she clutched her head. "No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO! Get _out_ of MY HEAD!"

"Asuna!/Asuna-san?!" Konoka and Setsuna called out, shocked by the sudden pain.

But, Harry was already holding her close to his body, soothing her down with hushed words. "There, there, I'm here. Everything's going to turn out fine."

Asuna melted into his embrace in mere seconds, but her eyes were still dilated out of fear and pain going through her head. And in a soft tone, she whispered, "H-ha…Harry…d-don't le-leave me…don't…"

"Not this time Asuna, not ever again," Harry asserted. "I'm sticking around now. And I'll find out what's going on with you, alright?"

Asuna nods into his chest, which prompted him to tap her forehead with his right index and middle fingers. "Good. Now, please, don't cry. You've had a trying day. I can tell. Just, get some rest."

Another minute or so passed, before Harry could feel her body heavier than it should be. _Damn, she must have been really tired if she went to sleep that quick. But, nevertheless, Asuna, I WILL find out what happened._

"Hm, intriguing," Eva interjected, after watching the…slightly warming reunion between the two. "But, my heart feels like it's about to collapse from all this-ugh-mushy gunk. Come on boy, we got the bouya here to heal."

"Yeah, okay, just hold that thought," Harry stated before turning to Chachamaru. "Sorry, I don't know your name, but could you hold her for me for just a bit?"

Chachamaru nodded before taking the sleeping Asuna into her arms. The girl didn't seem to want to let go at first, but it was after Harry pinched a nerve on her neck that she was able to be taken, for the moment mind you.

Next, he turned to Konoka, "Alright, Konoka, I have a way that we can heal Negi here. I'm not sure it will work all that well, but I think with your help, my plan just might work."

"A-anything! Just tell me what to do!" Konoka pleaded.

With a nod, he turned to the forest. "Oi, rat, get over here. I know you're there"

"I'm an ermine!" Chamo shouted as he came through the bushes, before realizing who he as talking to. "Eh heh…Harry…how's it going…?"

"Oh, nothing much really. Just expect for me to pound some sense into you and the brat here once things have cleared up, got it?" Harry asserted with a no-nonsense tone, to which the ermine nodded in agreement.

"Other than that, get ready for what's to come. And Konoka, I'm sorry for what I'm about to do. And Setsuna, stay your blade"

"What do you intend to do with Ojou-sama?" Setsuna asked suspiciously, with her white wings flapping about.

To answer that, Harry does a series of actions. The first was walking up to the confused Konoka. And as he neared her, he snaps his fingers together. In that instant, a Pactio circle formed under where she stood, startling her slightly. Eva raised an eyebrow at it, and Setsuna had gotten he gist of what was happening, and was now pale.

"Oh! I gotcha!" Chamo shouted, getting where this was going.

"Wh-what do you me-me-mmph!"

Konoka never got to finish the sentence as she was promptly kissed by Harry. The ritual activates immediately, encircling the two as magic formed the bond between the two of them. It didn't take long for Konoka to adjust to the sudden contact, and actually get into it. Not that Harry minded, as kissing a good looking, homely woman like this one was a definite change from all of the other ones he is with.

And before they knew it, the ritual had ended, with Konoka now wearing clothes for once, but in a new outfit she could say liked very much. Her outfit had then consisted of long white dress with a crimson red cloth going down the middle, with it being decorated with white runic circles. There were black leather boots on her feet, to which she tapped a bit to check their fitting. And finally, there was a staff in her right hand, with the top of it having the same runic symbol on the top part.

"Hm, I like it," Konoka said simply before twirling around.

"Glad you do, but don't you have a teacher to heal?" Harry asked dryly with a raised brow.

"Oh! A-ano, gomen!" Konoka stuttered while trying to dull her blush. "I-I'll get to Negi-sensei then!"

But before she could, she had to ask with a worried expression, "Eto, Harry-kun…how do I use magic?"

"Just imagine what you want to do, and your magic will do the rest," Harry explained before the girl nodded to do her duty.

Setsuna, on the other hand, seemed to be more than happy at Glaring at Harry for doing such a shameful action. "Were this any other situation, you wouldn't be standing."

"You could try girl. You could try," Harry waved off.

"I'll agree with the lad here. You won't even stand a chance against him, girl," Eva nodded, wearing a haughty smirk on her face. "In fact, if what I've heard about his swordsmanship is correct, you wouldn't even last 5 minutes."

"Correction Master; after analyzing her abilities and Harry-san's abilities, she will only last 4 minutes, 26 seconds, and 86 milliseconds," Chachamaru elaborated in her emotionless voice.

"Duly noted then," Harry nodded before he analyzed Chachamaru. "…you're a robot, imbued with some magic from Evangeline here by the looks of it."

"Good detective skills there," Eva drawled, while enjoying the infuriated looks that she and Harry were getting from the Setsuna.

"There's me too! I'm a gynoid like Chacha-nee!" a younger voice chirped in.

This got both Harry and Setsuna to look at the miniature, creepily grinning doll that was sitting on top of Chachamaru. She looked like Chachamaru, but with her being the size of an actual doll. There was also the fact that she was playing with a butcher's knife like it was her favorite toy. Somehow, Harry wasn't disturbed as much as he should be at the sight.

"You have…interesting companions Evangeline," Harry commented. "In fact, I think that I may have the perfect companion for the little one here."

"You know someone as bloodthirsty as Chachazero?" Evangeline asked with a raised brow again.

Harry shook his head no. "Not in that way, but she used to be. I think that she wouldn't mind talking about her old times with this…gynoid here."

"Does she bleed a lot too?" Chachazero asked happily.

"Duh, though it should be noted that it is she that causes the ones to bleed. Not her."

"I like her!"

_Oh yeah, those two would get along swell. Better not let them stay too long together though._

Just then, a tired looking Konoka walks up to the group, with a sleeping, now healed Negi still lying on the ground.

"That didn't take long. I was sure you didn't know anything about magic," Eva commented.

"Well, I just did what Harry-kun did, and presto, the word just came out. I thought it was neat," Konoka stated as she looked at Harry with stars in her eyes. "Do you think that you could teach me more about this stuff…please~?"

_Dear Gods, they ALL can do that damnable thing_, Harry winced as he was forced to endure that dread look.

He finally caved in. "Fine, fine! I'll teach ya! But first, let's get the brat in. And also, I'll need to start working on what's going on with Asuna."

Harry then felt someone's presence leaving, causing him to turn and ask, "And where do you think you're going?"

Setsuna had stiffened at being caught before answering, "I…I have to leave…..gomen."

"Wait! Se-chan, don't go!" Konoka shouted as she ran forward. "I-I just finally got to be with you as a friend, and-and now you're leaving me again! Please, don't go!"

Setsuna seemed to hesitate in what she was going to do, but took flight. But before she knew it, her face was introduced to the concrete, via a hard blow to her head.

"Do you really think that you leaving will solve anything?" Harry asked with a raised brow. The harisen that he had used to hit the dumb girl was hanging loftily by his side, cackling in the bustling wind.

Before she could answer, Harry interrupts her by saying, "Listen Setsuna, I have only known you in the span of less of an hour, if not a little over it. And through that, I can already tell that Konoka here cares a LOT about you, and I can see that you do as well for her. So, really, explain to me how you leaving her is good for anything?"

"It's the law of the Tengu! I-I have to leave i-if I show my f-form!" Setsuna shouted shakily, tears coming out of her eyes.

"I don't care about that! You're my friend Setsuna, and you're staying!" Konoka shouted back before taking the Tengu-hybrid into a hug. "You're…like a sister to me. I…I don't think I could handle…another loss like before. So, don't you dare think about leaving!"

"K…konoka…," Setsuna breathed out as she took in the hug.

The scene was endearing to say the least. But, it was scenes like these that just made Eva and Chachazero want to vomit.

"Come on you two! Enough with this mushy-mushy shit! Let's get your asses moving back to the manor! On the double!"

While Eva was going off on the two girls, Harry walks back up to Chachamaru before holding out his arms. "I can take Asuna off your hands now. Oh, and if you will, pick up the two ignoramuses on the ground."

Chachamaru nods to that before handing her over to the young man and walking off to the downed Chigusa and Fate. Somehow, as soon as Harry's hands get a good grip on her, Asuna snuggled up to him. It was like she knew that he was there to be her comforter or something, which made Harry smile softly at her.

_Rest easy girl. You need it. But, rest assured. I WILL find out what's wrong with you. And may the Gods help those who have caused it._

He then walked off with the girl in his arms, heading off to the Konoe manor. He was sure to be welcomed there. And with the circumstances at hand, he knew that he could just as easily get Eishun to not tell his other friends about his presence. He didn't know why, but he felt more at ease that way. Because deep down, he knew that they were involved with it somehow.

_**AN: and that is that. Now that Harry has been reunited with Asuna, things will start to unravel, like who has messed with Asuna's memories, and who is persistent in not letting her get with Harry. I will also be explaining just what the hell is up with Harry's eyes. I will hint at it being a sort of Mystic Eyes of sorts, and one that hasn't been done from what I've seen in the Nasuverse, as far as the Wiki goes. It is mostly derived from another show relating to magic. That is all that I will say on the matter.**_

_**And also, it would seem that Konoka has joined up on this train. Reason being is a number of things of which I won't say. But it is not solidified. Now it is mostly hero worship. Whether it develops depends on how things go.**_

_**And finally, with what's going on in England. This will be the last time that they are mentioned, except for one incident later on, until Harry's brother, Lucas's 4**__**th**__** year starts, which is Harry's 4**__**th**__** year in canon. You should be able to get where things go from there. Until then, Harry here will be along the Negima plot.**_

_So as always, please leave a review for me to see. And if you have any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, and/or compliments, leave it in the reviews or send me a PM about it. Until then, ja ne!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NEGIMA SERIES OR THE HARRY POTTER FRANCHISE! If I did, I would have done a much better anime version of Negima?!, as we ALL know about the certain atrocities in the anime series. The manga though could have used a more…definite ending per say, but I'm glad nonetheless. With the Harry Potter franchise, I would be rich and swimming in money. From all of the money I made off of all of you. And Harry would have ended up with someone different other than Ginny. Just my personal preference._

Speaking –"And here I thought this would be too easy"

Thoughts – _Damn it_

Demon, summon, demonized human, large being speech – "**Foolish ningen"**

Demon, summon, demonized human, large being thoughts – _**You amuse me**_

Spells, techniques, etc. – Ultima!

_**AN: Just to let you all know, Takamichi wasn't the only one responsible for Asuna's memory wipe. There is another Negima character that played a part of it, but that is all that I will say on the matter.**_

Ch 3: Memory Wipes and the Troubles That Comes From Them

_**(Recap)**_

"Do you really think that you leaving will solve anything?" Harry asked with a raised brow. The harisen that he had used to hit the dumb girl was hanging loftily by his side, cackling in the bustling wind.

Before she could answer, Harry interrupts her by saying, "Listen Setsuna, I have only known you in the span of less of an hour, if not a little over it. And through that, I can already tell that Konoka here cares a LOT about you, and I can see that you do as well for her. So, really, explain to me how you leaving her like this is good for anything?"

"It's the law of the Tengu! I-I have to leave i-if I show my f-form!" Setsuna shouted shakily, tears coming out of her eyes.

"I don't care about that! You're my friend Setsuna, and you're staying!" Konoka shouted back before taking the Tengu-hybrid into a hug. "You're…like a sister to me. I…I don't think I could handle…another loss like before. So, don't you dare think about leaving!"

"K…konoka…," Setsuna breathed out as she took in the hug.

The scene was endearing to say the least. But, it was scenes like these that just made Eva and Chachazero want to vomit.

"Come on you two! Enough with this mushy-mushy shit! Let's get your asses moving back to the manor! On the double!"

While Eva was going off on the two girls, Harry walks back up to Chachamaru before holding out his arms. "I can take Asuna off your hands now. Oh, and if you will, pick up the two ignoramuses on the ground."

Chachamaru nods to that before handing her over to the young man and walking off to the downed Chigusa and Fate. Somehow, as soon as Harry's hands get a good grip on her, Asuna snuggled up to him. It was like she knew that he was there to be her comforter or something, which made Harry smile softly at her.

_Rest easy girl. You need it. But, rest assured. I WILL find out what's wrong with you. And may the Gods help those who have caused it._

He then walked off with the girl in his arms, heading off to the Konoe manor. He was sure to be welcomed there. And with the circumstances at hand, he knew that he could just as easily get Eishun to not tell his other friends about his presence. He didn't know why, but he felt more at ease that way. Because deep down, he knew that they were involved with it somehow.

_**(End Recap)**_

_**(Date: Aug 23, 2009)**_

"It's nice to see you again Harry, after all this time. Though, I wish it were under better circumstances than this," a fatigued Eishun greeted the young magus.

Harry offered a curt nod to the man. "I would have gladly offered the same sentiment, had things been a much different state of affairs. But now, there lies a…few problems that need to be addressed."

Eishun was now sweating a bit but remained calm. "Well, just say the word Harry, and I will do what I can to help."

"Arigatou. The first thing is a question, more to the point of your daughter Konoka. Now, please, enlighten me in what made you decide to try and keep her ignorant of magic? It would seem as though it didn't matter, considering on how I had to rescue her from being a catalyst to a full-out war between your guild and your rival guild."

The man rubbed his forehead in trepidation. "It…._*sigh*_ it was a way a father had tried to protect her daughter from the dangers of our world. You know as well as I do about what lies beyond the unicorns and the miracles as much as I do. I…didn't want Konoka to have to experience that kind of world."

"That would have worked…had she been of a younger age," Harry remarked, before going off on the man. "Granted, with me being child of _that country_, we have different cultures and are raised differently. But still, you could have at least shown her what to expect instead of outright keeping her ignorant. I'd imagine that there may have been times when she had done something that wasn't supposed when she was sad, angry, scared, or happy.

And hell, she would have been more afraid, if not more fearful of our side had she remain ignorant, and end up being brought into the more nefarious sides, all because she didn't know why things are. And finally, you keeping her ignorant of her own power, a series of Magical Circuits that rival my own when I was her age, with the temperance to control it, had hindered her learning curve by a margin nigh inconceivable.

You know what could have worked out better for you? You could have told her only small fractions of it, while giving her lessons on how to, uh, I don't know, defend herself! What with her nature now, she is entirely a Support style, which is not that bad for someone of her circuitry, but my point remains the same."

Harry then rubbed his face with his left hand out of irritation. "And now, thanks to your and whoever was in this blasted orchestration, Konoka had almost wound up being a sacrificial lamb for minor oni-no-kami. I'm happy that Negi and his students had been able to get her out of there, but it was only as successful as it could be with the help of Evangeline's and mine from the outside in.

And now, with Negi pulling a trick out of his father book, Konoka is now one of my Pactio partners. That in turn leads to me being the person who not only has to watch out for her, but is to teach her about how to do magic stuff. Seriously Eishun, What, The Fuck?! All of this could have been prevented!"

Eishun had merely repeated Harry's action before showing a sardonic smile. "Well, I guess I should say that I know that my daughter is in good hands."

Harry glared at the man before he continued on in his verbal beatdown. "Now, to my second ire. You, nor anyone else, should have been the victims of that Averruncus and that woman's attack. Who's the person in charge of your bounded fields, and why didn't he make them stronger than what they are?"

"No one is, really. The barriers set up here are charged by the nature given via the Nara Park. But, if the attack was to say anything, I don't think that it would be a good sufficient defense by itself," Eishun replied sheepishly.

"Then you know the solution. Contact your Mundus ambassador to get him some experts on it. It should be well within this guild's budget to get a proper team to set up a bounded field for that crap."

Eishun sighed. "I'll get to that soon then. That needs to be fixed. But, I am guessing that you're not finished yet?"

"Ah…..yes, not quite," Harry nodded before he rose from his seat. He then walked slowly forward, with each step showing a decrease in room temperature, and the KI emitting from Harry. Eishun was now sweating profusely, not being used to this kind of KI in years.

"I do have…another point I must address. I will ask this, and I expect the full truth from you Konoe Eishun, or I _will_ bring down forces that will not only disband your guild, but also make sure that your group is turned into normal humans, along with being branded as criminals, if not worse.

Do, you, understand?"

Eishun gave a quick nod, ensuring the young man that he was going to comply. He would have done it regardless in any matter.

"Good. Now, please, tell me, what the hell did you do to Asuna? I will know if you are lying, so don't bother telling me lies or half-truths. And if I am not satisfied with my answers…I am not fond of using my _gift_ in that manner but…."

Harry had left the threat hang where it had ended to only emphasize just how serious and pissed off he was. The older man knew too that he would probably go through with that threat. And he wouldn't even know how to defend against it, with it being a bloodline ability unknown to all except its bearer. Eishun sighed again before wiping his face clean of sweat with a nearby cloth.

"Harry, I…I don't know exactly what went done, and what was used. You should now that I was against it at the time too. But, no one else, not even Nagi, cared for it except…Takamichi and Albiero. They said that it would be better for her to remain ignorant of our world, like Konoka was. But with her seeing too much in her life, there was naught that we could do. I was fine with just raising her like she was, and have her wait for your return.

I was sure that she highly anticipated it, but those two blindsided me before I could do anything. And before I know it, Asuna had her memories wiped, and I'm not sure about what they did to her abilities that you helped her build. She…she was such a hollow shell of herself, that I had nearly killed those two for doing it to someone who suffered so much. But again, there was nothing that I could do…I'm sorry Harry. Had my damned inaction and doubt blocked me, I would have-"

"It's fine Eishun. I've heard enough," Harry interjected, before letting loose a sigh that was accompanied with a shake of his head. "I figured that you wouldn't have been involved, but I had to make sure. Jakan couldn't have done it, as he didn't give a shit. Nagi, well, he's an idiot, so that's a no. Plus, Arika would have killed him. But those two…_*sigh*_."

The somber mood seemed to encompass the office, letting the two young men feel just how troubling this problem was.

"…so," Eishun began, hoping to change to a brighter topic, "How's your parents back in Mundus? I haven't heard anything of them for quite some time."

"Dad's been hard at work killing some bandits and monsters near our hometown," Harry answered. "And mom's always working and tinkering with magic and Gods know what else. She told me in the last card message that she had ended up blowing yet _another_ lab in the castle town. Save for that, the both of them are still doing very well, as well as Caren.

Though, I was told that Caren has begun her studies under Dia. Hope she is doing well, considering she had inherited mom's penchant for making…everything explode."

A bead of sweat rolled down Eishun's head. "Well, they're keeping busy. Next time you talk to them, give them my greetings. In any matter, I suppose that you want to go check on Asuna?"

"Yes. I want to help Asuna get better quick. And I'll need to borrow you, a few of your healers, mind healers at that, one of the brat's students, Konoka, Eva for what I plan to do as a preliminary examination."

"I can understand some of it, but why one of the student's, my daughter, and…Eva?"

"Well, mainly because of a series of things. One: Konoka is not only Asuna's roommate, but a good friend too. Asuna will be more at ease in this manner. And lastly for her, this will be good training in Konoka's Pactio form and her magic. It's as good as it can get there. The same can be said for who brat's student, Nodoka I believe. Upon asking around, I have found that she and the brat had made a Pactio due to the machinations of a _certain ermine_ and one of his students. And oddly enough, I believe that the Pactio she has could benefit us in the preliminary examination.

As for Eva, baring the fact of her reputation, you can't refute that as a Shinso, she is bound to have plentiful of knowledge on this matter, just in case both us and your healers are able to discern just what the hell Albiero and Takamichi did to Asuna. And quite frankly, she makes good conversation with me."

"I…see, then," Eishun nodded as he rose from his seat. "Then, I shall call forth my best healers."

Harry nodded as he opened the door. "Then I will meet you in Asuna's room."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::

"So, ar-re you r-really sure that I-I can be of help, Harry-kun?" a nervous Konoka asked Harry. They were both waiting around in the room that that Harry designated as the medical examination room; though in reality, it was a modified version of one of the guest rooms in the manor. Asuna was lying on the bed, sleeping peacefully due to a healer having her drink a sleeping potion. It was better for her to be in that state than being awake.

But, to soothe his new Pactio partner's worries, Harry placed a hand on her shoulder while wearing a calm smile. "Konoka, I'm sure that you can do this. I have no doubt in my mind about it. Have some confidence in yourself, and remember: this is to help Asuna. I'm sure that you will get better once you get our goal in your head. It helps me a lot, truth be told."

Konoka seemed to brighten up a bit due to Harry's calming gesture. "Ar-arigatou, Harry-kun. And yeah, this is for Asuna, and I will do anything I can to help her! Yosh!"

"That's the spirit," Harry smiled as he turned to Nodoka, who had just entered the room, looking absolutely nervous. "And the same could be same for you, Nodoka-san. There is no need for you to be nervous here. Though this will be a delicate procedure, I have my faith in your abilities."

That had sent the girl into a blushing fit, but she smiled. It led to Harry smiling a bit wider; he had dealt with shy girls in the past before, and he had found it easier for them to break out of their shell through this method. It may seem that he is buttering her up, but he was really speaking the truth. The truth usually works on these cases.

This was where Eva and Chachamaru came in. The loli Shinso looked irritated at first, but then had brightened up a little once she saw her latest 'interest'. "Ah, we meet again, and so soon too. Tell me, was it you who had summoned me?"

"Yes, Eva, that I did," Harry answered.

"Ano, w-we were wondering if you would help us in with Asuna," Konoka asked shyly, feeling intimidated by Eva's presence.

"Hm? And how may help out? You should know that regarding my reputation that I have no knowledge about any healing magicks," Eva asked with a raised brow.

"True that may be, but with your…advanced age, I believe that you hold a plethora of knowledge that could help us see just what in the hell those two idiots did to Asuna," Harry elaborated bluntly. "And before you ask, in return, I will see what I can do about that seal. I believe that I know someone or some people who could break you free."

"Hm? Break free?" Nodoka asked quietly. "Wh-what do yo m-mean? Eva-s-san isn't imprisoned…..i-is she?"

Eva, who was obviously shocked to silence, was unable to answer. Chachamaru did so in turn. "Master is indeed 'trapped', as she is bound to Mahora due to Negi's father creating a seal for her 10 years ago. Negi's father, Nagi, had then promised to release her soon. But, much to my Master's anger, he has yet to return, along with the fact that no one has seen him in years."

"Th-that's horrible! How could someone do that?!" Konoka asked, shocked by what her fellow student said.

"I don't know the full story myself Konoka, but I have heard through passing that it had to do with Eva here stalking Nagi or something like that. I still call it a dick move for him to just seal her up here and not fulfill his promise," Harry explained.

"Please…don't remind me of that. And I only followed the baka because he owed me big time after I had bailed his lame ass out of facing a King Behemoth, and he wouldn't pay up! I don't know where the fuck he got the idea that I was in love with him! _*shiver*_ The…image there is something I would rather NOT deal with, thank you," Eva ranted off. "And plus, I do have a grudging respect for Arika putting up with him. As evil as I am, even I have standards."

"I'll be sure to pass the message the next time I see her then."

"Matte," Konoka called. "Arika? Is that Negi-sensei's mother? I've never heard of her from him."

Harry sighed at that as he took a seat. "Unfortunately, Negi is completely ignorant about her. I intend on rectifying that after this is done. I have a feeling that Takamichi is somehow behind this in some manner too, as I had often wondered on why he would only search for just Nagi, and not Arika as well.

I can understand on how she has to stay hidden away from the Megalomesembria senate bastards and all, but really. I had thought that she would have at least thought it better to raise the brat in person instead of leaving it up to Nagi of all people."

Eva looked at him with a raised brow, followed by a haughty smirk. "You speak as if you know her. Care to tell me little ol' me?"

"Later, when we get done with this part. I don't want to say much; you know, 'the walls have ears' and stuff," Harry waved off.

Eva seemed to understand, though Konoka and Nodoka looked a bit put out of not being able to learn more about her teacher. But she had an alternative route to take.

"Oh! Ne, ne-ne, can I ask you some questions, Harry-kun?" she asked with a bright smile, which made Harry look at her with a raised brow and Eva gag. Chachamaru just sat there on a nearby chair, still like a robot and all.

"I…guess I could humor you for a bit," Harry surmised quietly, before nodding. "I fine with it, but nothing personal or anything. You can ask as well, Eva."

Eva seemed to go into thought while Konoka asked, "Well, I guess I should ask about your parents and family, since we talked about Negi-sensei's. And then again, I don't think that Craig is a…fitting name for you."

"You wouldn't be the first," Harry chortled with a smirk on his face. "Truth be told, the name Harry Craig is more or less the façade that I use whenever I am around the public surface of Earth. It's for safety reasons mostly, but it's also to ensure that I have a good cover whenever I would do the more…hush-hush missions that the Magus Association or the Clock Tower would hire me for that the Megalomesembria would toast me for."

"Then, what is your _true name _then?" Eva asked.

Harry pretended to be in thought before giving the lot of them a tsking gesture. "That would be telling, wouldn't it?"

Eva seemed to be thoroughly amused by that, if not somewhat irritated by it. Konoka and Nodoka although were more forward in showing their displeasure; Nodoka's was just a bit more subtle about it than her classmate.

"Now, I would tell you, but, again, I use this name for security reasons above all else. Trust me, if people were to find out just whom raised me to be who I am today via my real name, then all hell would break loose throughout both Mundus, Earth, and whatever magical realm is in contact, like mine for example. That, and I would rather not give my family anymore unnecessary publicity than they get if it were to be overheard."

"M-magical realms?" Nodoka interjected softly. "Y-you mean that th-there are a-alien worlds, like in th-those movies and books?"

Eva answered this one. "Of course there are. Mundus is usually the one that keeps constant contact with Earth here, but there are other realms that can be accessed, if you were to know where to go, and who to contact. I've only been to Magix to learn what they have as witchcraft there and I wasn't impressed. I also wasn't very much…welcomed there."

"I've been in Magix myself," Harry added in, so that he would steer away from the possible questions about Eva. "Though it was only a short time, my father had brought me there so that I could learn some weapons wielding from the Red Fountain Military Academy. It was fun while it lasted.

But, the realm where I was raised is called Shtraberl. So far, only me, my family, some friends of my family, and anyone within our Magi Association based there can access there. But, that doesn't mean that I can take anyone there. Some of my Pactio partners are there now in fact."

"Shtraberl…," Eva muttered before asking, "isn't that the one realm where it's like Mundus, but much less bigoted and corrupted?"

"If you were to put it that way, anything is better than what Mundus has got running," Harry answered sardonically. "But, in a manner, yes. While it hasn't had its best times, it is one of the better magical communities out there to our knowledge, going along with Magix of course."

"Do you think you can show us some pictures, Harry-kun?" Konoka asked.

"I can do that," Harry smiled as he pulled out a disk. Next, he channeled a bit of his od into the disk before throwing it to the ground.

As soon as the disk landed on the ground, a beam of light shot out of the centerpiece of the disk, startling those who were obviously not used to such a feat. Next, the light expands into a pseudo-screen, nothing more than a blank screen. And finally, Harry takes out a remote controller and clicks it. The first image seen was a map.

"This is Shtraberl. As you can see, it is a world on its own; with its own continents, water, resources, and an extensive magical community that is well-known all around. You'd have to be an idiot to not know about it here."

He then clicked the remote while taking in the looks of awe and inquisitiveness from the observers. The next picture shown was a castle, and a pretty grand one at that. There was a good deal of guards stationed at certain points, all armed with a variety of weapons.

"This is Carnava Castle, centered in the Carnava region. It was where I spent most of my time when I was younger, prior to learning magic. My father's surrogate father is the captain of the guards there, and was the one who, more or less, 'whipped me into shape'. My mother is also an important figure here, due to her relationship with Queen Sophia."

He then clicked the remote, showing the said queen of Carnava. There was the obvious gasp from the Konoka while Nodoka commented, "She looks like the queens in some of my books!"

"Yes, I daresay that she does look very much that of a regal queen," Eva nodded while she inspected the image.

"I'm sure that she would take those compliments in stride," Harry chortled in good humor. "Nevertheless, she is also one of the most powerful magi that I've the pleasure of knowing. While she may be a queen in all shapes and forms, she also is somewhat of a grandmother to me. Whenever my parents would be out, she would take me in to care for me like she did to my mother. She did the same when my little sister came into the picture too."

"Really? Does she know any sort of holy spells, like those of the Royal Family in Mundus?" Eva asked evenly.

"More than likely so, and no, she didn't teach me them. I hadn't the capacity and blood in me to learn such things. What she did teach me though was usually on the diplomatic side, whenever Grandfather Gaston wasn't making me die in his training."

"What do you mean by that Harry? You sound like you couldn't learn magic at all there?" Konoka asked.

"That's because I am not supposed to. Men can't use magic for some reason; which is why the ruling head is a woman. Only women can learn how to do magic and become Witches. And no Eva, they're MUCH better than the backwater ones over at Europe."

Eva nodded to that as a dark smirk grew on her features. "I didn't suspect as much. Though, I always did enjoy my fun in toying with that lot: always so…bumbling, idiotic, ripe for the picking."

"Moving on then," Harry interjected as he clicked the remote. The next photo made him smile a bit as a young girl holding a book and a wand that was very much identical to her mother's. She had an odd mixture colored hair, with it being silver for the most part, with the tips of her strands either being pink or blue. Her golden eyes were shining brightly, along with her smile that was contagious upon glance.

Back to the outside, he could hear the awes being released from the other girl's lips. Eva looked like she was about to barf, while Chachamaru was still acting like a robot.

"And this is my little sister, Caren, when she was starting her first lessons at the Magic Academy at Carnava, about a year or so ago. She was literally jumping off of walls back then, but then wouldn't stop clinging on me when we got to the damned place. I'd say it was quite adorable, even mom and dad had quite the chuckle. She's fine last I checked, even if she had inherited mother's penchant for making things explode…quite often."

"But she looks nothing like you," Eva commented while she exchanged looks between Harry and Caren. "Though, now that I look deeper, I can feel a faint…magical signature constantly going off from you…a glamour, perhaps?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. It was all part of the identity I created. Only Asuna and some other close friends of mine, save for the people in my home world, have been able to see what I truly look like. Maybe I'll show you once this whole spiel is cleared up."

Figuring enough was enough for now, he then turned the projection off before withdrawing the disk and remote into his pocket, while Eva asked again, "Earlier, you said that men aren't supposed to be able to do magic. That said, why are you able to do so?"

"Mostly because of a series of things," Harry answered. "For one, dad is able to use magic, though he requires a specific process to be done each time if he was to use it, but he had taught me some of it. Me, on the other hand, I had inherited that to some extent from my parents. But, above all else, most of it contributes to the fact that was made as a member of my family through blood adoption."

"Blood adoption…? You were adopted, Harry-kun?"

"Yes, I was. I was originally born here on Earth," Harry explained in a solemn tone. "That is more or less the main reason why I can use magic, as I was born from a different family…I….don't like to talk about them, so can we skip that, please?"

Eva had gotten the memo immediately and had continued on by asking, "Another question then. Your eyes…they were different than from yesterday. What's up with that?"

"Huh, what d-do you-you m-mean, Eva-san?" Nodoka asked.

Konoka stared at Harry's eyes a bit before nodding. "Yeah, Harry-kun's eyes were a different color."

"That's because of something else entirely that came from my blood adoption," Harry shrugged. "I don't know what exactly had caused it to form, but I had developed a type of Mystic Eyes. No one that I have talked to knows about it, making me the only person alive with an unknown catalyst."

"…Mystic Eyes…?" Eva muttered, wide eyed from that answer.

"W-what are Mystic Eyes?" Konoka asked next.

"Well dear, it's a type of ability that one gains through their eyes. It bestows those who have it with extraordinary powers that most magi could only dream of, though what they can do varies between bearer," Eishun explained as he entered, along with two healers behind him. He then looked to Harry with a raised brow. "You were telling them about your 'gift', Harry?"

"More or less. They were just asking. I can tell you more about it later on. Now, Eishun, these are your best healers for that I asked?"

"Hai. These two here are our strongest healers we got," Eishun answered before gesturing to the healers. "This is Healer Kudo and Healer Okazaki, the Kansai Association's best Healers in the fields you requested."

Both healers then bowed to Harry in greeting, to which Harry returned in earnest. "Good. Now, Healer Okazaki, I presume that you are an expert in Mind Healing?"

The healer nodded. "Hai, Craig-san. I have a Doctorate's Degree in Mind Arts and Healing from the Honk Kong Magi University."

"And while I may not be as well-versed in it as my colleague, I too have a Doctorate's in General Medicine, Pediatrics, and Pharmaceuticals from Tokyo Magi University. It is also my duty as the Head Healer of the Kansai Association to know other fields of medicine and healing," Healer Kudo added in.

Harry nods to this as he said, "Good, since I know of how good those colleges are in those fields. In any matter, would you happen to know the exact spellwork needed for a person to enter someone's mind? I think that it would be necessary in order to get a precise diagnosis on Asuna."

Okazaki thought on it for a few seconds before saying, "There are a few options to go for. Since this is on such short notice, we will have to do the _Nian Tou_ procedure."

"Eh? Neeyan…Tou?" Konoka asked airily.

"The translation is Mind Dive from Pinyin, Ojou-sama," Kudo explained. "Basically, what this procedure entails is for me and Okazaki to perform a specific array of spellwork to open a portal into a person's, such as young Asuna-san here, mind. Normally, this would require an extensive amount of preparation for the runic arrays and other factors. But, we were told that you had a catalyst that would eliminate such a thing, Craig-san?"

"Indeed we do," Harry nodded before he looked at Nodoka. "Nodoka, if you would, please bring out your Pactio Artéfact."

Seeing that this was where she was needed, the shy girl nods before pulling out her card. "_Adeat_."

After a short burst of light, Nodoka's Artéfact, Diarium Ejus, had appeared into Nodoka's hands. It was already opened too, with its pages being blank for the moment.

Harry then explained, "From what I have learned, Nodoka's Artéfact is a book that allows her to read the minds of others in a sort of picture related format. When I had asked her to let me study it for a bit, I had found that it also has an ability that acts as a proxy for that array you spoke of."

The healers seemed to be very much impressed by this before Okazaki walked up to Nodoka. "Nodoka-san, if you may, see if you can try to read my mind."

"O-o-kay. I-I'll try," the timid girl acknowledged before turning her gaze to the book. "…you are th-thinking about y-your daughter, I-I think."

Satisfied with that, Okazaki nodded while wearing a small smile. "Indeed I was. I just needed to check on your Artéfact's abilities. And if what Craig-san said is true, then I believe we can get started. Shall we begin then, Kudo-sama?"

Kudo nodded while she walked up to the bedside of Asuna. "Hai. We should. Nodoka-san, please stand near Asuna-san's head. Konoka, since your Artéfact allows you to aid in healing, you shall assist me in keeping our magic sustained for the procedure, along with you healing any fatigue that any of us should get it in mid-operation."

While the said people got into their spots, Eva merely shrugged before moving next to Nodoka. "I might as well stand next to you girl, and see what I can get from here. My knowledge may provide some use here. Chachamaru, I want you to start scanning the other girl while this is going on."

"Hai, Master," Chachamaru intoned while her eyes centered on Asuna's resting form.

Harry now stood on the other side of Nodoka. "And I'll just stand here. And Eishun, make sure no one gets in. And I mean no one, at, all. I'm sure that you can understand on how delicate this operations is, right?"

"No need to tell me twice on that. I'll be outside," Eishun nodded before he smiled at Konoka. "And, Konoka-chan, do your best."

The girl smiled brightly at her father. "Arigatou, Otou-san!"

After the man had left, Kudo nods to her colleague. "Okazaki. Are you ready?"

The healer nodded. "Hai. I am ready."

"Good. Then let us begin. Craig-san, we will let you know when it is good for you to enter."

"I'll be ready," was Harry's curt reply while he watched the team at work.

After a good fifteen minutes of work, Harry, Eva, and Nodoka were watching the images coming t from Nodoka's Artéfact. At first, they couldn't see much, if at all. But, as time passed, they could see what seemed to be a field of some sorts. The crude children's drawing ruined most of any interpretation that came up upon first glance.

As time went further on though, the image had increased in resolution. There were some trees, flowers here and there, clouds, and oddly enough, doors. Okazaki had explained then that those were mostly the pathways to Asuna's more accessible memories. They were different in appearance usually by several circumstances, like the person's personality, what dreams occurred, whether or not the memories were good, funny, heartwarming, etcetera.

When they were able to see the field quite clearly was when Kudo spoke. "Craig-san, this would be the best opportunity at the moment for you to dive into Asuna-san's mind. Upon entry, please make sure you can establish a connection to Nodoka-san."

"Already planned on it," Harry replied while his hand hovered over the book. "Wish me luck."

He then touched the book tentatively. The familiar pulling sensation at his stomach was felt as he dived on in. He would admit that it was much better than what the portkey made him endure on those times.

As he entered in, Eva could only bluntly ask, "So, do you think we will find out just what the hell is going on with the girl here?"

"If Craig-san had his way, he would have cured her. Regardless of which, I am quite confident that we will be able to give a full diagnosis on Asuna. We will just have to wait and see…"

_**(Location: Asuna's Mind)**_

"Hmm…kind of weird being here," Harry muttered while he flexed his muscles.

He shook his head clear of the incoming theories as before looking up to where he thought the sky was. "Hello! Oi! Can any of you hear me?"

He waited about a minute or so before he cupped his hands over his mouth. "HELLO~! ARE YOU GETTING ANYTHING HERE?"

He waited another minute and still got no response. With a tilt of his head, several ideas came into being. While there were multiple ways for him to establish a connection, doing any of them would probably guarantee Asuna turning into a vegetable. And he for surely didn't want that to happen.

…_guess I'm hoofing it on my own for now,_ Harry mused as he made a 180° turn.

His eyes laid their gaze down the oddly corridor-like field. There were multiple doors set about on both sides, with either numbers or words plastered on plaques and what not. There was the small temptation to look inside those doors brewing, but that was squashed with extreme prejudice before it could fester into something troublesome.

A breath was taken in and released to calm his nerves. He then took the first few small steps that slowly turned into a power walk.

As he walked down the field, he observed the multitude of doors laid about. Some of them were actually slightly ajar, giving him the slight temptation to see what was inside. That temptation though was thoroughly squashed before it could become an annoyance. He had to concentrate on his mission, his goal.

As he continued to walk on the plane of existence, a thought enters his own mind. The thought led to a theory to which he hadn't thought of yet prior to entering into Asuna's mind. Now that he thought about it, he should have counted that theory as a potential problem that will more than likely hinder him.

_Maybe I should see if I am?_ He asked himself as he passed another set of doors. Judging from the plaques' descriptions, he could see that he was getting close to the time where Asuna was about 10 years old. He was getting close to where the barrier was more than likely going to be.

He decided that he better test it out now, rather than later. In his mind, the trigger for his Magecraft set off, in the form of a simple motion that he, his father, and whoever else would do when in practice of the particular art. All that could be seen was a blade being set into position, being raised into the air, before coming down and splitting a log.

His Circuits roared to life. The familiar amount of od and prana needed for this certain spell came into its proper proportionate state. He recalled the image in his head, setting forth a blueprint of sorts on a table. From the blueprint, there came an understanding of the blade in matters that would make many swordsmen and blacksmiths frothing: the composition, the condition, the sharpness, the dexterity, and most importantly, the history.

As a he felt a familiar weight settle into his hand, the images came forth from within his own mind. Muscles tense and adjust themselves on instinct, like they had done so many times before. And with those images coming in his hand, he twirled the object, just for the fun of it. Yep, the blade in his hand still felt the same as always.

It should, for it was the training blade used by both him and his father whenever they were training in the Carnava Castle training grounds.

The images soon stopped coming into mind, which led to him opening his eyes that had closed. "Tracing, complete."

With the aria said, Harry observed the familiar training blade with a look of nostalgia. The many times he had used this blade had come into mind, along with the sheer multitude of beatings he had suffered when using it. Damn, his father and grandfather were surely having a bit of a sadistic pleasure in doing that to him.

But that mattered little, for even though he hardly like how he was treated during those times, he appreciated them nowadays for what they did to him in the long run.

While Harry checked the blade, he noticed that he was feeling a bit more restricted than normal. Sure, his circuits were running like normal, but he had felt that there may be a limiter of sorts placed on him. In retrospect to that, he could understand it. It would be stupid to allow someone be at full power while being in another person's mind. That just spelt trouble.

Truth be told, the binding was miniscule compared to some of the bounded fields he had felt in the past. Well, he could say that it was stronger than those worthless bonds that the old fool had tried to put on him, but really, anything is better than what _their kind_ could possibly ever do. In any matter, this binding of his circuits wouldn't hinder him at all, proving that he didn't need to do something stupid and 'Hero of Justice' worthy.

At another town, a certain redhead sneezed before he started bawling for the fact that he had ruined his food.

_I think the term Gryffindor worthy would be the proper analogy._

He would had gone on further with his musings, hoping to widen the growing smile bit by bit, but something had caught his attention. For one, there was a gradual change in the overall environment. The grass up ahead looked dead, the fields being barren, with there being practically little to no doors at all. In fact, as far as he could see, there was only one. And it for surely didn't belong, what with it being made of steel instead of a type of wood.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the door, wondering just what lay beyond it. One thing he could definitely infer as that not only did it not belong there, but it gave off a fake feeling, like it was…manufactured.

Eyes widened in realization before his eyes changed colors. If what he assumed was true…

Harry then places a hand on the door and began the aria. "_Indica mihi, id est secreta iacet extra aream tuam. __Custos Vera_."

He didn't know how many minutes had passed, but he knew one thing after having analyzed the door. Takamichi and Albiero better pray, for not even tortures listed in the thirteen circles of Hell would compare to what he was going to do to them. To have planted these…these…_lies_ in her, so that they will gear her to a different point of view than from what he knew of her.

And what was worse, was that he knew just what kind of seal would go hand in hand with a memory implantation such as this. And if it were so, not even Bathomeloi and maybe some other people would be able to hold him back from erasing those _insondables, detestable, morceaux de merde_ from existence, damn the consequences.

But first, he would have to do something else. Harry took a few steps back from the door, before setting his eyes upon it yet again. With how high his emotions were, he was sure that he could just as easily give the right command to eradicate anything. And he did so, by merely asserting that very command to the door, but in a different manner.

To follow the command, the door shrinks itself, while changing its structure in its entirety. A few minutes had passed, and the door was still there. The change though was that it was in the form of a card, instead of an actual door. Reason being was that doing what he had originally planned would have caused unnecessary damage to Asuna's mind; he would rather help her, instead of damaging her more.

This seemed to be the easiest solution that he could think of, as since they were not really rooted to her true memories they could be deal with on an easier footing. And what better way to do it, than by walking up to the card, taking it off of whatever kept it in place, and tearing it into pieces.

He had done said action before waiting another few minutes. Seeing no reaction to what he had done, save for the mindscape turning into a livelier atmosphere that he could appreciate, he decided to move on.

This time though, instead of walking, he had pivoted before going into a hard sprint.

The run was short, as he had come to where the memories that he and Asuna would recall were supposed to be. He had passed through a good amount of bounded fields, more than likely built to keep out any wandering people from going further. But, what with how Harry was, the barriers were mere child's play to him.

He would only flick his sword before each barrier, a testament to how determined he was, which showed in his strength. He was sure that some of his other allies would be doing it without a conscience thought, but that was a moot point.

In any matter, when he had arrived at his destination, the rage that he had felt had reached a peak. There had only been a few times when he had felt the wrath that came seeping in his aura, most of them were during times when he would do so much damage to an enemy that even Blue would be hard pressed to repeat such a feat, and she was known for making things go boom. He should know, as he had met and battled with that crazy woman a few times.

The sight before clearly showed just how dire the situation in Asuna's mind was in. there were a few more barriers along with there being a large, ominous gate. The gate had somehow managed to compress the mindscape to where it could be guarding the entrance to a cave of sorts, but Harry knew better than that.

And behind that gate, was the goal of his long quest: it was in the form of Asuna, who was in a comatose state while being caressed in some sort of gravitation field. Her outfit was the same as she wore on the previous day, but her hair was not in the long, twin pigtails. Instead, it was free, with it falling to the ground. From his standpoint, Asuna seemed to be in peace. But, the peace betrayed to the warring emotions.

He could feel the sense of sadness, angst, betrayal being caked and caked again around the area. What contradicted it thought was the overflowing feeling of love, hope, and joy that seemed to circumvent around his person. He had a feeling that maybe Asuna might be in a more aware state that she appeared to be.

"Hold on, Asuna. I'm almost there," Harry muttered as he glared at the gate. It seemed to be taunting him, with it barring his way. Oh, he wasn't going to have none of that.

He dismisses the sword before channeling into prana into the ring on his hand. The jewel embedded in it glowed, with it increasing in intensity by the second. And then, rune markings start to crawl up on Harry's arm. This is where the aria began.

"_Μέσα από αυτή την υπόσχεση, μέσω αυτής της δύναμη, να ακούσουμε λόγο μου και να καλέσει, σκίσετε με αυτό το φως! Φωτεινό ριπής!_"

His hand reared back and then thrust forward. And through it came an energy beam out of the palm. The spell easily made through the bounded fields, but the amount of resistance that he got was going to make it harder for him to make a good impact on the gate. In order to curb that, Harry had then placed his other hand on his arm, and began to channel as much prana and od as he can, while maintaining the proper balance needed for the spell.

It was a daunting task, and very trying on his circuits, but he was doing the job. The years of disciplining himself helped on that; though it should be noted that his Mystic Eyes were a great help.

When the spell made contact with the barrier, he felt it fight back. The push against him was just as strong as he was giving in return, which made it into a deadlock of sorts. Neither side wanted to give in, but Harry was known to thrive in tight situations like this.

Going for the final push, Harry overloads the spell before breaking contact. The result was the impending explosion that would surely damage the gate, and the lock by proxy, greatly.

And sure enough, once the smoke had cleared, the gate was in shambles, but still intact. Most of the bars were bent, if not gone, and the dark feelings surrounding it had mostly disappeared. The lock was there too, but it looked just as damaged as the rest of the gate, only more as it had taken the full brunt of the spell.

Panting, Harry assessed the gate for anything else. Not that he needed to, as he had already figured out just what kind of seal those two idiots had put on his dear friend.

"Those two better really pray that Barthomeloi deals with their punishment," Harry swore in a dark tone. Nothing else needed to be said there.

His dark thoughts on the matter were soon interrupted by a soft, very familiar female voice. "Harry?"

His head popped into place while he stared through the bars. By The Miracles, he never felt so happy and sad at what he was seeing. Nevertheless, he walked up slowly to the gate, before taking in the hand of his dear friend through the bars.

"…hey," he intoned softly, not quite sure on where to begin.

Asuna merely smiled back in the same manner he remembered all those years ago. "Hey…Harry. Long time no see…huh."

"You have _no_ idea," Harry replied dryly. He then chuckled at the thought of it. "I've…I've been searching for you for _years_ now. I could never find you, neither hair nor word of your location. I-I was afraid that…you know…"

"I…felt the same too…Harry," Asuna nodded while she moved her fingers across Harry's hand, taking in the feel of his skin. "When I was…you know, I had always felt empty, like-like something was out of place…that something was wrong with me. And whenever I got close to…..to-to remembering you and-and our promise…those_ damn memories_ those two implanted in me would get in the way. Along with that _infuriating voice_, taunting me.

And when I had met Negi and done all of those things, I had felt that…that what I felt for you was…was…"

Asuna couldn't stop the dam from breaking there. "I _*hic* _I _*hic*_ I th-thought that I w-was gonna forget you. I w-was, b-but yo-your face an-and our p-pr-promise kept me going-ng. I _*hich*_ I-I knew th-that you wouldn't w-want-t me to c-cry, but to-to move on-n. I-I d-d, and-and I n-never gav-ve up on-n you, ever! I knew _*hic* *hic*_ I kn-knew that you were-were out there too. I-I just h-had to-"

Harry had placed a finger on her lips, with a calm smile. "Asuna, don't worry, its fine. There was nothing for you to be sorry about. The blame on all this lies with some certain idiots, who WE will be addressing to accordingly, once we've fixed you up okay?"

A few seconds passed before he got a slow nod from Asuna, who was trying to avert her eyes from his, while also trying to downplay a blush. She always responded in that manner whenever they were in close proximity.

Harry then placed a hand on her face, caressing it with great care. "Listen. I know our time will be short here, but I have to leave for now."

Asuna's eyes widened with fear as she gasped. "Wh-why?! I-I only just seen you now!...after all these years!"

"I know that Asuna, but look," Harry stated as he gestured to the gate between them with his free hand. "You're still trapped within this damnable gate here. And I'm not asking any chances if there were to be some sort of alerting system in place here in case the seal goes awry.

And besides, it will only be for a short while. I will have to gather some friends who will for surely tear this down, and then we can meet again, for real. I'll even arrange a party, and you know I rarely do those!"

"Yeah…you were never one for parties," Asuna giggled lightly before an expression full of concern came. "But, what will happen once I wake up? Will I remember this? Or even any of my earlier memories? What if-"

"I've got that covered. I don't know, but for some reason, I had an inkling that something like this was done to you. Something in my gut told me, which is why I am going to do some things here before I get back to reality."

Harry then powered his Mystic Eyes for a few minutes to issue the commands. Once done, he explained, "I basically told you some commands to help you out. It won't be much, but it'll have to do. Second, once I get back out there, I'll place an enchanted necklace on you. It'll protect you from all sorts of things, I can't explain it here, but you'll just feel it burn and stuff. Just heed it as a warning signal and stuff."

He didn't tell her though that it was basically a C-rank Noble Phantasm that he had won off of a Clock Tower member, but details like that are worth explaining at a later time.

Asuna had looked pensive before asking, "Y-you swear? We will see each other again?"

Having deactivated his Mystic Eyes, Harry's emerald green eyes shown as he said, "Of course. I still haven't done my end of the promise."

That had earned him a blush. "O-oh…yeah! Of course! An-and a princess like me has to do her end too, right…? Eh, heh?"

Harry than began to back away slowly from the gate, pulling his hand in the process. Asuna's own had then latched onto his own hand with a trembling grip. But, she soon let go, with great reluctance.

"…I'll see you later, Harry," Asuna said, with tears flowing down her face.

"You bet. I'll be back before you know it. And until then, keep this as a reminder of what's to come."

In a sudden movement, Harry was able to poke his head through the bars enough to get a quick kiss. Asuna, by now, wore an astonished look on her face, with her hand lightly touching her lips.

She then watched as her love interest gave her a casual wave, accompanied with a wink, as he faded away. A few minutes passed then, with her still shocked at what happened. A smile formed soon after.

"Harry…I'll be waiting for you…and…_aishiteru_," she prayed softly. A breeze went by, caressing her hair in its hands. She wouldn't have it any other way.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"What did you see Nodoka-chan?" Konoka asked her classmate, who was still trying to maintain the blushing storm. Reason being was that she had seen the endearing moment between Harry and her sleeping classmate, Asuna. It should be obvious that she would be in such a state, especially with the fact that she had imagined her and Negi acting in such a manner.

"N-nothing, Konoe-san," Nodoka answered softly.

"I'm not sure myself, girl," Eva commented, sitting on the couch next to Chachamaru. Neither of them could figure out just what kind of seal was placed on Asuna, which had of course made her extremely irritated.

"But, the rest are discussing about it with those two healers. They seem to be quite calm from what I seen, but the boy is obviously trying to put up a façade. I'd have given in my two cents on the matter, if only I were to come up with anymore. It's maddening."

She could have mentioned something about that heartwarmi – ergh – puking inducing scene. Yeah, it was absolutely _horrid_ for her to process, but as she said, even she has standards. Now if she could just get that unsettling feeling in her stomach and chest to go away, she'd be fine and dandy.

Let it be known though that she was _not_ jealous of them. Nu-uh, not whatsoever.

This was where Harry had reentered the room along with Eishun, both of them sparing worried filled glances at Asuna. Harry's though held a ferocity indicating that he was probably cursing something, or rather, two specific idiots that were the proprietors of this travesty.

"Well, we've figured out what Asuna has," Eishun began, looking like he really didn't like the situation at all, "and I might as well say that I am glad that we have caught it now. Add the fact that Harry-kun here had made a good beating on the seal, pretty much destroying a good portion of the seal's matrix that prevents many things to come to Asuna-kun."

"Cut to the chase, Eishun," Eva cut in.

Harry took the reigns this time, though he was barely concealing the rage that saturated in his tone. "What we are dealing here is something that has pretty much earned those two a death sentence in regards to the Megalosembira and the Magi Association's laws: a _V Memoriae planis signationem_ commonly known as the _Key Crinem Memoria_, or the Lock-and-Key Memory.

Everyone didn't know the implications of the seal, or the language rather, so Eishun explained to them the details of the seal.

"Basically, this is a Level 5 Memory Seal that was an experimental seal used on criminals of certain levels or those who have gone past the even the highest levels of insanity. What it does is that it takes certain memories, such as Asuna's childhood, and keeps them under a lock and key of sorts, usually in the form of chests or gates. The bearers of the seal were to then go on with their lives or be silenced by execution, depending on the bearer itself.

However, during the testing, bearers would sooner or later turn against their handlers or themselves in a bout of insanity, again for certain cases, before their mind would shut down, either by their own brains and magic battling against the seal, or by death due to the immense shock that the brain and heart had to endure. After many attempts to refine the seal, the current Vice President of the Clock Tower, Lorelei Barthomeloi, and the council at the Clock Tower had decided to give a Level 5 designation, banning it from ever being used and circulated within any mage/magi on Earth. The Megalosembria's own banning of the seal was soon to follow in _Mundus Magica_.

Afterwards, all of those who had worked on it or who were involved in the creation of it were either killed or wiped of those memories in order to prevent further spread of the seal. Unfortunately, every plan to wipe out information and methods such as this are never truly 100% successful, which leads us to Asuna's current condition."

"Wh-wh-what do we do th-then, Otou-san?" Konoka shakily asked. "We c-can't just leave her like this! We h-have to help her!"

"H-hai!" Nodoka agreed quite loudly, which was highly unusual for the soft-spoken girl.

"I've already done my part in it while I was in Asuna's mind, "Harry stated calmly, still trying to keep his emotions in check. His eyes though were switching on and off from being emerald and gold. "While I was in there, I was able to take out any false memories that were implanted in her, along with dealing a good amount of damage to the seal.

She will hopefully remember some portions of her childhood, specifically the recent ones including myself and her a few years back. But, it will only do so much until we can do a permanent solution, of which I can provide."

"A permanent solution, eh?" Eva mused softly. "Then, I suppose you know of some people who specialize in this?"

"Yes, as she is very knowledgeable about this stuff, along with other sort of Magecraft," Harry answered. "And even if she couldn't do it, I know of another one that can literally tear that gate to shreds without harming Asuna. And yes, these are the same people I referred to earlier. I will say that you may find some form of kinship with the latter of the two."

Eva only nodded blankly, her min thinking on just what kind of being would have a kinship with her.

Harry then went back to the other members of their group. "Now, what needs to be done is me getting the right people and getting into Mahora for the operation. In the meantime, I am going to need you two, Konoka and Nodoka, along with some of your other classmates to do a mission for me."

"Just name it, and we will do what we can!" Konoka affirmed with a determined expression adorning her face, with Nodoka nodding in agreement.

Harry smiled at that. "Good. Now, I will let you know who else is in on this, but basically, I will need you to do a list of things until I and my people get to Mahora. The first is that you will not tell Negi anything about what happened here, or even of me being around the area. The reason why leads us to the second part, which is that you will need to keep Asuna away from Takamichi and a man by the name of Albiero. I will provide pictures for the latter. In any matter, if Negi were to know that I am here, he will obviously tell Takamichi, which would then lead to him freaking out and taking Asuna out of Mahora to parts unknown. And since you will be keeping Asuna away from Takamichi, we can't have Negi even knowing about this, at all. Understand so far?"

He got nods from the both of them before he continued on. "Next point: with the seal being partially broken and wearing off as it is, Asuna will probably exhibit signs of dementia and schizophrenia. That said, Konoka, as you are closer friends to her; just keep her mind occupied on something else. And if all else fails, I'm sure that you wouldn't mind helping out a bit, Eva and Chachamaru?"

"Why of course! I'd love a chance to stick it to those two!" Eva answered with an evil smirk. Surely she was plotting something devious for those two.

"And I will do what I can to assist in accordance to Master's wishes, Harry-san," Chachamaru added in stoically.

"Thank you," Harry thanked with a nod before he asked. "And if possible, would either of you two be able to supply a way into Mahora without getting detected by its bounded field?"

"I had figured those out the year I was imprisoned there, just I may use them to escape whenever I was free. Chachamaru, supply the man with the necessary forms!"

"Hai, Master."

Now Harry turned back to the general group. "That pretty much covers the extent of the mission on your full end. On my end, it will take at best a couple of days for me to get the certain people down here. They all should be at the same city, so getting them together shouldn't be a problem. When the time comes, I will contact Eva you Konoka, and want you to disperse the necessary information to who I tell you to. Everything will be explained then. That's pretty much it. I will now go talk to the other students that who I think will benefit being on our side for the duration of this operation. Remember, this is for Asuna; and Eva, make sure to have fun while you're at it."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Mmmm~, you sure know how to make interesting company, _bouya_," Eva told Harry.

The two were sitting on top of the Kansai Association manor, enjoying the moonlight. While Harry had somewhat wanted some time alone to process what had happened, Eva had appeared next to him, taking the spot next to his side. He had raised an eyebrow at the Scottish-born Shinso before shrugging. The girl made good conversation, so who was he to deny some company?

The said Shinso had then tried asking more questions about him either in mid-conversation or such, to which he had offered a clever response in turn. She had been thoroughly amused by it, as was he, which had led the two to continue the banter for quite a bit.

"So I've been told," Harry commented dryly. "And just how is it that I am amusing to you, the _Maga Nosferatu_?"

"Why, many things of course, though, many of which are inconsequential to your pretty little mind," Eva hauntingly stated.

"Try me. I don't think that there isn't anything that I have heard."

"Hmmm. Very well then, consider yourself honored then."

Eva then turned and glared at another direction. "Oi, whoever is out there, you should know that it is _extremely rude and unbecoming_ to eavesdrop on a private tête-à-tête."

"It's fine, Eva. We'll talk about it later, and besides, I know who all is there," Harry waved off as he rose from his spot and turned around. A small smirk formed on his face. "Well, how nice of you to stop by and see little ol' me. I don't know whether I should feel flattered or threatened with you finding me here with a good mate of mine."

"You can cut to the chase, Craig," a female voice cut in with a brisk, no-nonsense tone. "I find it hardly surprising to find here, especially since you've made one of my classmates one of _your group_, and another one acting differently, and then _another_ one being in a totally different room than us, quarantined in fact. I don't know what the hell is going on, but I had figured that you were behind it."

"I'll have you know that my _group_ as you so endearingly called it was just fine the way it was. While Konoka was an unexpected addition, I am sure that she will be a fine addition to the family. Gods know that we need more level headed people to straighten out the more rambunctious ones," Harry commented, leaving off that last bit with an amused chuckle.

His smirk grew when he heard the female scoff before it disappeared, being replaced with a slight scowl. "While I would love to continue this playful banter with you, Mana, but I believe that my visitation is on a matter of most importance. So, please, come out into the open. And I would like your friend to come out as well and join us, as I think that she will be good for this too."

"Ara ara, I had thought I had hidden myself well, de gozaru," another female voice called out, with disappoint laced in her playful tone. It then turned chipper instantly. "Well, I guess I shouldn't expect much more from the highly coveted magus Harrison Craig, known as the _Ater Acie_."

Two figures then appeared. The first one was a pretty tall, buff female of Indian descent. Since it was not during one of her jobs, she was wearing a pretty casual outfit, which consisted of plain white blouse and a plaid skirt. At her head, her heterochromiac eyes, with one being brown and the other being gold, were trying in a futile effort to intimidate Harry. And as always, like in their previous encounters, it had only amused Harry.

Now, even though she was in a casual outfit meant for civilians and women who want to relax, she had a Benelli M3 combat shotgun on her back, with a pair of Browning Hi Power pistols strapped on her thighs, and an extra one strapped to her right bicep, and finally, a Ruger SR-556E-SC strapped on her back. And to complete her arsenal, it should be noted that there were two cleverly hidden combat knives, with one in her left boot, and on hidden between her breasts.

Clearly, even though she was supposed to be relaxing, she was armed for an all-out war with the Taliban, if she were to have it that way. But, that is just Mana being her.

The next figure was someone he didn't know, but could tell that she was more than likely a friend of Mana; if that were not to be the case, she would have been shot down on sight. Now, this one was dressed more for stealth; well, that can be seen, as Harry had immediately known that this girl was a kunoichi. Not the typical ones he had met at Southern Japan; thank Gods for that small mercy.

She wore a typical ninja gi, with it being colored I typical colors meant for nighttime. She was shorter than Mana, but had made that up for the size of her…assets. Ignoring the temptation to stare, he took note that she had no visible weapons on her person. Again, a typical ninja thing, as she was probably hiding shuriken, kunai, and whatever else somewhere on her person and could more than likely pull them out pretty quickly too if the situation were to call for it.

Nothing else to be noted, only her eyes somehow remaining to be closed that seem to be quite the companion to her smile; and her dark green hair with an ahoge. She seemed to be more the fun and relaxing type of girl at first glance, but had immediately shaken that pretense off. Kunoichis were dangerous beings, especially for him if certain people were to know that he had encountered one again. For the sake of his sanity, he better pray that they didn't.

"Tatsumiya? Nagase? What in blazes are you doing here?" Eva questioned roughly, obviously displeased with their sudden appearance. She seemed to be a bit flustered too, but Harry had tricked that up to be some sort of light trick.

"Well McDowell-chan, I was hoping to meet the _Ater Acie_ once Mana-chan had said that he was here, and boy, I am impressed, de gozaru," Nagase happily answered.

She had the mind to continue, but Mana had cut her off, "Enough, Kaede."

The Indian Miko/mercenary/exorcist then turned back to Harry. "And what business do you require of me?"

Harry had decided to cut to the chase to save time. "Ultimately, I'm calling in that favor you owe me."

Mana's eyes widened in shock while Kaede giggled. "Ara~, I didn't know that the great Mana-chan actually owed someone a favor of all things, instead of the other way around. He must have done something special for you to owe him that."

"I would like to know that as well," Eva smirked, happy at the opportunity at getting some blackmail on the Miko.

"It…wasn't one of my…greatest moments, damn you!" Mana gritted her out, her teeth grinding together. She then turned her glare at Harry, who instead of looking amused, was serious. The harsh retort that had come out of her mouth had then died, taking note that this was very serious.

"…_*sigh*_ what do you need of me?"

Harry waited a few seconds before he looked to the kunoichi. "Your name is Kaede Nagase, correct?"

He got a nod in response. "Thank you, then you will be offered the same thing. It's a missions of the utmost importance, being put in very delicate proportions. But first, I will need to give you some background info. This is mostly for Kaede's case, as she will have the opportunity to back out of this. You, Mana, have no choice. I hate doing this, but having you on my side instead of the other once shit hits the fan will be better for me and what my group plans to do."

Harry then took a breath in before asking, "Now, tell me, the both of you, what do you really know of your classmate, Asuna Kagurazaka and your formal teacher, Takamichi Takahata?"

_**AN: And that is done. A lot of things have happened here folks. Take note, that everything is done as it is for a reason. There are hints EVERYWHERE here. Take note of them, and do your own research. Have fun with it too. That is all that I will say on the matter.**_

_I believe that I have said my case. So,____as always, please leave a review for me to see. And if you have any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, and/or compliments, leave it in the reviews or send me a PM about it. Until then, ja ne!_

_**(Translations)**_

"_Indica mihi, id est secreta iacet extra aream tuam. __Custodes Vera_." – Reveal to me, the secrets that lie beyond thine reach. Keeper of Truths.

_insondables, detestable, morceaux de merde_ – inconsolable, loathsome, pieces of shit

_Μέσα από αυτή την υπόσχεση, μέσω αυτής της δύναμη, να ακούσουμε λόγο μου και να καλέσει, σκίσετε με αυτό το φως! Φωτεινό ριπής!_ – _Through this pledge, through this might, hear my plea and call, tear asunder with this light! Shining Burst!_

_Ater Acie_ – Black Swordsman. This goes along with how Harry fights, for those of you who recognize the moniker.


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NEGIMA SERIES OR THE HARRY POTTER FRANCHISE! If I did, I would have done a much better anime version of Negima?!, as we ALL know about the certain atrocities in the anime series. The manga though could have used a more…definite ending per say, but I'm glad nonetheless. With the Harry Potter franchise, I would be rich and swimming in money. From all of the money I made off of all of you. And Harry would have ended up with someone different other than Ginny. Just my personal preference._

Speaking –"And here I thought this would be too easy"

Thoughts – _Damn it_

Demon, summon, demonized human, large being speech – "**Foolish ningen"**

Demon, summon, demonized human, large being thoughts – _**You amuse me**_

Spells, techniques, etc. – Ultima!

_**AN: While this chapter is going forward in the current plot, know that a bit more of Harry's backstory will be elaborated. And as for the people Harry's recruiting, the title should be a dead giveaway as to who he will be seeing. Enjoy.**_

Ch 4: Blue Blue Grass Moon, Under the Crimson Air: Reunion

_**(Date: Aug 25, 2009)**_

"You sure that here is good, kid?" a taxi driver asked, staring at his current patron with a raised eyebrow via the rearview mirror.

Harry returned the gesture with a shrug. "It's fine. I need to stretch my legs anyway. Plus, I need to get my bearings in this city; it's been a while since the last time I was here."

The driver shrugged back. "Meh, do what you want then."

Harry then fished out the necessary money before giving it to the man. "Here's your money. Have a good one."

"Yeah, yeah, you too kid. And welcome back to Misaki."

The young man then exits the taxi, walking onto the pavement. He didn't pay mind to the cab driving off into the distance, not that he could since he was dropped off in the middle of the city itself. It was mid-morning at least, sometime around 9:30, and people were already filing away to their respective jobs or wherever place that they were going.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but Harry had felt him proceeding through the bounded fields surrounding the city. Nothing harmful much, as it was at the leyline structure; hell, it didn't even do much to him. Though, had his aura been roaring, he would by now either be hounded by the 'supervisors' of the city. He had entertained the thought of doing it just for kicks, but had decided that keeping low for the meantime would in turn lead to a much more entertaining reunion.

Perhaps he had been influenced by Zelretch too much.

_Well, the bastard's not one for subtlety, that's for sure_, Harry snorted inwardly as the passing image of the greatest Troll came to mind. _He'd probably be at the manor, causing some form of havoc to the others by now if it were him. I, on the other hand, prefer subtlety. And besides, he should still be handling Tohsaka at the Clock Tower…or last I heard of, I should say._

Leaning his head to the side a bit, he felt his neck pop a few times. He then turned his head the other way, repeating the same process. The cricks in his neck were gone now. Next, he fiddled with his shirt and then his backpack. And finally, after shaking his legs a bit, Harry looked towards a building that had glass windows.

Prior to his departure from Kyoto earlier in the day, he had decided to discard a part of his glamour. It was great for him as it was entertaining, as he revealed his true age and height, which are 19 and 5'11" respectively. He had a good laugh at their Konoka's and Eva's astonished expressions before having to reassure them that this was his true looks…almost anyway. He had merely put on the disguise to get his enemies to underestimate him, and nothing more than that.

Though it should be mentioned that he also did it so that he would surprise people with how old he actually is. Oh yeah, Zelretch had _way_ too much influence on him.

"Let's see if I can't find my way around the city," Harry said out loud as he began to walk on the pavement.

It would be about an hour of aimless wondering later whether he had found himself in an all too familiar park. It was nothing more than a simple children's park, complete with seesaw, swing set, jungle gym, slide, a more complex play area with an even larger slide, some twin steel poles aligned in a parallel manner, and some benches. Again, nothing more than a normal, boring, children's park. But to Harry, it was just something more than that.

Reminiscing in old memories, Harry had walked up to the swing set, fingering the chains fondly up and down. Hands gripped onto the chains and pulled. The chains jingled to them being messed with for a short time before the links became taut. Seeing nothing happening, od was being steadily fed into the chains. And yet, the links never gave way.

Harry smiled at this before releasing the chains. "Huh, seems that the Alteration of these chains still lives on."

Now on a whim, he sat on the seat of the swing. Due to the change in height over the years he had last been here, his legs had long since passed the necessary height for him to be comfortable. He still was, but his knees were bent more than the last time.

Legs swing forward. And then back. And then forth. Back. Forth. Back, and forth. Back, and forth. Back, and forth. With the increasing momentum and force being applied, Harry was now fully utilizing the swing to its purpose: to have fun in a moment of childish nostalgia. True, it was a bit rough adjusting on the how-to with his height, but it was no problem once he had gotten used to it.

But that didn't mean that his knees were going to be killing him once this was over.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but his senses had kicked him. Eyes that had been previously closed had then snapped open. But after analyzing what he had felt, the emerald eyes had softened. A small smile graced his lips.

Back, and forth. Back, and forth. Back, and forth. Back, and forth he swung. Suddenly, He lurched back and then forward. With eh swing at the highest it could get, Harry let himself go, now flying a bit into the air. It paled in comparison to the times had had actually flown, but it was still fun.

_*crunch*_

His feet had landed on the ground. The sound made was short and crisp, since he didn't have the proper momentum to make him stumble a bit. He remained standing there, not really feeling like moving about just yet. A soft breeze came by, pushing some of the strands of hair out of his face, if only by a little bit. It wasn't that bad, considering how late it was in the summer.

_*rustle* *rustle* *rustle*_

Some leaves rustled in the wind, with perhaps a few of them breaking off of their respective branches. But, with the breeze, came a faint, yet familiar scent that filled Harry's nostrils. The smile grew a few centimeters. He could have called out, but he had decided to humor the visitor a bit, and let her have the bit of mystery to her. Of course, what with how she smelt this time, she could just be having a bit of fun with him.

Minutes passed, in silence that permeated throughout the park. Another breeze flew by, rustling some more leaves. There was also a faint honking from the cars, out in the somewhat distant streets beyond the outskirts of the park.

_Is she going to make me move again?_ Harry asked inwardly in a sardonic tone. _I swear that I think she gets a kick out of_-

_*Meow*_

…_well, I'll give her that one, this time._

Harry turned to his left, setting his eyes on a black cat, and a tiny one at that. The cat though had a slight ominous presences showing all through her still state, with her blank, crimson eyes staring at him. He could see that the black bow was still there like always, with it being on top of the cat's head, and then having a pair of silvery white cotton balls dangling on the ends of the bow, with them hanging loosely below the head.

But even if the cat looked completely evil and all, he knew that the cat just preferred that look over anything else. But that didn't matter at the moment, as he was having an improv staring contest between him and the cat, with neither side wanting to give in just yet. A few more tense minutes passed, with a random tumbleweed tumbling pass them.

_*Meow*_

_*twitch*_

"…you do know that I am going to win this time, right?" Harry asked the cat.

The cat merely kept staring back at him. "…"

His eyes soon couldn't take it anymore. He ended up losing the contest, again. "_*sigh*_ Fine. You win. Bloody cat."

The smile betrayed the portrayed 'anger' in his tone. Above all else, he was more amused by this little act. Once his eyes were good, he walked up to the cat, taking a knee in front of her. He then reached out, resting his left hand on top of the cat, and rubbing it fondly. The at seemed to enjoy the physical contact, as her eyes were now close with the cat's head leaning in towards the hand.

"Heh, seems like you've gone into 'Neko-mode' again. Should I get some milk for you, Len?" he asked with a teasing smile.

The response he got was the cat glowing for a few seconds, causing him to stand up and back away. The light died as quickly as it came, revealing the newly named Len's new form. She stood at a low height of 4'6", and wore her patented black gothic Lolita dress. The bow and white cotton ball set were at the same place, though the latter was set as the ends of a small, thin ribbon. Her light blue hair swayed a bit in the wind, and her crimson eyes were again staring at Harry.

Once Harry had opened his eyes, he could already tell that his familiar was clinging onto him. He smiled down at her as he gave a small pat on the girl's head. "It's good to see you too, Len. Did you have a good time here?"

The girl leaned her head upwards to look at her Master's face before tilting her head. "…"

"Sounds like you did," Harry chuckled. "So, how many times did Arcueid try to get you to track me?"

"…"

"Huh. That's surprisingly lower than the last time. Wonder what's up?"

"…"

"Ah. Now that makes sense. Akiha probably just got irritated at her for it or something like that. Speaking of which-"

"…"

"Ha! She says she doesn't miss me! Clearly that isn't the case!" Harry declared smugly. He then tilted his head at the thought of it. "Perhaps I should treat her to a dinner once things have settled down."

"…? …?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. I would love to spend some time relaxing, but I have a very important mission to do, and I would like to include some certain people in on it," Harry explained after giving a sigh.

"…?"

"Yes, Len, you can come with me. I merely let you come here because you missed messing with Shiki. And don't give me that look! You know that it is the truth!"

"…"

"Pretty much everyone is included in it; we'll talk about it later, okay?"

"…"

"Hm," Harry nodded before he made his familiar release him. "Now, what say we go to the manor? I'd like to give them a good surprise while I'm still at it."

"…"

"Blame it on the Troll, Len. Blame it _all_ on the Troll."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::

It had only taken the duo half an hour to reach the Tohno manor. It had looked the same as it had been before, with it being an English style manor complete with several Magi workshops, a pool, a small number of gardens, and an unnecessarily big driveway. He never understood that last part.

He looked down at his familiar, who was holding his hand much like his sister had done years back. "Can you ring the bell for me, Len?"

The girl nods in response as she walked up to the buzzer and pressing it. Harry had decided to lay in pseudo-hiding to Len's left, which should be out of any person's viewpoint at the gate. A few minutes had passed until he heard some soft footsteps coming closer. If he remembered correctly on how certain people walked, then this was a good way to start things.

"Len? What are you doing here?" a soft, dullish female spoke. "You usually come in on you own. What seems to be the occasion?"

_Well, at least she sounds more alive this time_, Harry grinned inwardly. _That's good. Just hope that Kohaku hasn't been too bad of an influence on her._

He sees the gate open by a young maid a little bit older than him. Wearing the traditional outfit befitting that of her job, she sported pink hair and jade colored eyes, and stood to about 5'1". Harry had recalled her to be only starting to let loose her emotions after the debacle involving Roa/SHIKI 2 years ago. And it seemed that she was at least making progress, though he hoped that her elder sister was doing the same. They were very much damaged women after all.

Wanting to answer the question, Len had taken a few steps back before pointing towards her Master. The young woman blinked, wondering just what the little demon was going on about. Her question was soon answered, by a voice she hadn't heard in a while.

"I believe that I can be considered an occasion, wouldn't you say, Hisui?"

She peered around the wall, only for her to lay her eyes on a smiling Harry. Said young man merely waved. "Heya. Nice to see you again."

Hisui's expression brightened upon full recognition before she bowed. "Hello, Harry. Yes, it's been a while."

"Now, now, I thought we've discussed on this," Harry chastised lightly.

"Oh, er-gomen," Hisui apologized, blushing in embarrassment. She then gave a good hug to her dear friend. "…welcome back, onii-san."

"That's more like it!" Harry quipped as he hugged her back. His grin then grew a bit. "I think that Len just may have missed me a bit too much here."

"So it would seem," Hisui giggled, as she looked down at her friend's familiar joining in. She was such a child sometimes.

After releasing the hug, or prying Len off of Harry more or less, Hisui asked, "So, what brings you back here, onii-san?"

"Business, unfortunately. I'll need to talk with everyone, and I mean _everyone_ about something important," Harry answered with a sigh.

"Then perhaps you would want to talk to Akiha-sama now, then?" Hisui asked with a tilt of her head.

"Yes, please," Harry nodded.

But before they could enter into the manner, the door opened, revealing a slightly older, yet peppier version of Hisui. She stood at the same height as her, but had a different variation of her outfit, with it being a brown kimono that was overlapped by a white apron. Like her sister, her hair was pink, set together with a blue bow, but had yellow eyes instead of jade.

"Hisui-chan! What's going on? Akiha-sama wants her tea and…aré?"

She looked at the apparent familiar guests with a questioning expression.

"Nee-san," Hisui called, "shouldn't you be with Akiha-sama?"

"It's fine, Hisui," Harry waved off before he stepped forward. "And you seem as energetic as ever, eh, Kohaku?"

The response was one he did expect, but had failed to prepare for. "KKKYYYAAAAAAA! Harry-san, wh-wh-when did you get here?!"

"GAGH!" Harry choked out, being tackled hugged by the maid.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh-OH _MY_ **GOSH**~! I am SO HAPPY that you're here~! Ya know, it's been dreadfully boring since you left two years ago, and Akiha-sama and Arcueid-san were never same! I mean, of course it was with you not being here. They'd have to be complete BAKAS to not miss you! And-and I guess that Hisui-chan missed you too, along with me, and Shiki-san and Ciel-san and Sacchin-san and Sion-san and-and-and-"

"**KOHAKU!**" both Harry and Hisui shouted, effectively shutting up the energetic maid.

"…eh heh, I went overboard again, didn't I~?" Kohaku asked sheepishly.

Both Harry and Hisui gave the girl deadpan glares as their answer. And before Harry could get the maid off of hi, another weight settled on them.

"Ara~ Ara~, Len-chan wants in on this action, doesn't she~?" Kohaku giggled mischievously.

Harry's face had then met Harry's palm. _For the love of Gods, this girl will probably be the death of us all. And Len, you're not helping!_

He was sure that the Succubus familiar was smiling at him in a taunting manner. He was certain of it.

After prying both maid and familiar off of him, Harry had let Kohaku go make him his favorite batch of tea. The woman was more than happy to be of help, as making his tea was always a challenge to her. And while the troublesome girl bounded off, Hisui and Len had led Harry to the main office of the manor, up on the second floor.

But as they went along, Harry couldn't help but feel that a certain idiot was missing. He had to ask. "Hisui, where's Shiki?"

"He left with Ciel-san earlier today. Ciel-san had wanted to check on something regarding the leylines and had taken Shiki-san as backup," Hisui answered.

Harry blinked. "That…may have been my fault. I had wanted to surprise you all, so I had disrupted the leylines where I entered. Guess I did it too well. And it should repair itself in any matter."

"Akiha-sama said as much, but Ciel-san wanted to be sure."

"The woman probably wanted to get her toy out of the house then. Knowing her, they'd probably be at some shop eating curry."

"We should expect them back come dinner time in any matter."

Harry merely shrugged. "Meh, its fine with me. And what about Arcueid? I'm surprised she wasn't with Kohaku."

"She went to take a nap before you and Len came. I am sure she will wake up soon, sensing that you are here."

"We'll see on that."

A few minutes later, the three were standing before the door to the Tohno study. Harry could feel Akiha's presence behind it. Knowing her and the time of day, she was more than likely working on the business reports and such, when it should have been Shiki doing it. Not that she would say anything about it, until it would begin to be too much for her to handle at the time.

Hisui knocked on the door before entering the study. "Akiha-sama, you-"

"Ah, gomen, Hisui. Can't talk right now. There are these damned reports that Nii-san didn't work on when he should have that I have to do. Ugh~."

"But, Akiha-sama someone is here to-"

"Go, Hisui, and get your sister back here with that tea. It would be helpful for this blasted headache," the young woman stated as she rubbed her temples with her fingers.

Hisui was about to answer, but Harry had cut in, "It's okay, Hisui. If Akiha thinks that paperwork is more important than seeing her lover after 6 months, than that is fine with me. Come on; let's go see if we can't get Arcueid up."

He ended it with a wink to her and a nudge to the side with his head. Hisui didn't get it before, only nodding a few seconds later before closing the door. The three then walked off to the side at a slower pace than before, further confusing the maid.

"Onii-san, what are we-"

"Hush, Hisui," Harry stated, placing a finger on his surrogate sister's lips, "and just wait. You'll see where I'm going with this."

Silence lingered in the hallway while the trio ever so slowly walked down it. Hisui was just sorely confused at what her surrogate brother was up to, and she was even surer that things might not end well if Akiha were to react-

"**NNAAANNNIIIIIIII!**" Akiha screamed from within the study.

Harry then let out a content sigh. "And there we go. That's what I was going for. Now, wait for~ it~…"

A few seconds later, the doors burst open, revealing a panting female, red faced due to her embarrassment, which was accompanied with a look of sheer fright. Now that she was no longer cooped up, Harry got to take in the sight of one of his lovers. Akiha Tohno had indeed grown a bit more than what he had expected, in more ways than one.

She had only grown about two inches, marking her at about 5'4". Her hair was no longer going down to her waist, with it being cut to a little over shoulder length; it was even made into a ponytail with two bangs hanging on both sides of her head. And like always, her sapphire colored eyes shown like a star, glittering with intelligence. Now, those were minor notes.

The major changes started out with her outfit. With was a black sleeveless blouse, merely worn for the weather. It was accompanied with a white short skirt that had two belts on it, with both of them being filled with select throwing knives that she would use in combat. And finally, as a sort of piece de résitance, was the growth at her _chest area_.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Akiha Tohno had finally grown breasts in the past two years, growing to about a mid or high B-cup size if he were to guess right. She still felt ashamed by their…size, and would no doubt lash out at anyone who would dare to make fun of her through that. Her brother, Shiki, just so happened to be on the receiving side on multiple occasions due to him putting his foot in his mouth more times than he should.

"Hisui! Who was just…ju-ju-ju-ju-ju…hu…now…?" Akiha asked rapidly, before trailing off at the end. She now stared at Harry, who just so happened to be waving right at her.

"So, Akiha has decided to grace me with your presence. And here I thought you didn't want to see little ol' me. I feel hurt~."

"**EH!**" Akiha screamed. "H-h-Hadrian-kun! Ah-ah-I didn't know th-that you were here! I-I-I-I, HISUI! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY **ANYTHING**?! I could have-**GAGH**! I'M A **MESS**!"

"Akiha-sama, y-you need to calm dow-" Hisui said in a placating manner, but Akiha was a bit too gone to let things go as they were.

"HISUI! Go pr-prepare the usual dinner-or is it lunch…? BAH, who cares, just do something! Nah~, Akasha damn it, I _knew_ something was up; _I just knew it_! H-Hadrian-kun, m-m-_mattekure_, I-I-I need to shower, fix my hair, change clothes, but-but that may take too long for me to do, which will be detrimental to the time I could be spending with you-er-NO! Nothing like that! I-uh-I-uh-I-MMPH!"

Akiha's rambling was cut off by Harry pressing his lips against hers. At first, the young woman looked like she was going to put up resistance, but had soon enough closed her eyes, drew her lover's body closer to hers, and got into the heat of the moment.

After letting her have her way for the moment, Harry pulled away, giving her a calm smile. "Better?"

"…it's not like I appreciated it or anything," Akiha muttered lowly. "It…it was nice…and I'm…happy that you're…here."

"I feel honored," Harry chuckled before nodding to Hisui. She was still stunned at what had happened, but had then gotten the message before leaving to do duties. Len, on the other hand…

"Len? Wh-what are you doing?" Akiha asked once she saw the succubus cling onto them.

"Len's been doing this a lot lately for some reason. I think that she just misses me a lot more than she's caring to admit," Harry responded.

"…"

"Yeah, you keep telling that to yourself," Harry waved off before having to let go Akiha, much to the woman's ire, and pry Len off of him again.

"W-well, may I ask what you are here for? N-not th-that I mind! I-I enjoy being with you!" Akiha asked.

"That's something that would require explaining to everyone. I would prefer to say it later on when the gang's all here," Harry said, switching to a serious look.

Akiha had then switched to that mode as well, getting that this wasn't for pleasure. "Does it have something to do with Roa again? Or Nrvnqsr?"

Harry shook his head in the negative. "Thankfully, no. I haven't found out anything on any potential reincarnations or revivals, but something like that would require patience until we are sure those bastards are dead. But, to me, this is something that is just as important."

"Hm? Like what?"

"I'm talking about someone that I know that is the victim of a _V Memoriae planis signationem_."

Akiha's eyes widened at the implication. "You can't be serious?! Someone being under one of _those_ _things_?! How is he alive or sane?!"

"That's something that I would rather say once. I'll give a full briefing once we make the calls and get _everyone_ here."

Akiha nodded, satiated with the current information for now. "I will make the calls then. Nii-san and the Church woman should be back soon, so all that is left to contact is Sion and her crew. Hopefully they will all be gathered at one spot."

"Should I get the sleeping beauty up then?" Harry asked.

"Hai. You do that, and bring her back down here. We'll talk about just the small bits of your situation. And I'll be sure to have Hisui and Kohaku bring us some tea and pastries in the meantime."

Later on, Harry and Len had moved on to another set of doors on the east wing of the Tohno manor, leaving Akiha to do the calling. The young man took in a breath, held it in, and then released it. He repeated the process a few more times. Unfortunately, this method wasn't calming the nerves zipping around.

_Better prepare myself_, he told himself before nodding to Len.

He reached out, grasping the door knob, and twisting it. Upon opening the door, he could immediately take in the familiar scent layered in the room. It reminded him of the floral _Mond Felder_ back at his realm. To be honest, as soon as he had registered it, homesickness came through. It was only temporary, for there was a good chance that he will be spending the rest of the year there once this whole debacle was cleared up in any mater.

But back to the matter, he took note that the room was just as…well, let's just say it had that central 'Lunar theme', with their being painted stars, portraits and photos of the moon in different phases, cycles, colors, etc., and the fact that there was a sky light that was encrypted in only letting the night sky come through, even during the day. She just preferred it to be that way.

And speaking of said girl, Arcueid was merely lying on her bed, under the covers, and eyes closed to further signify that she was asleep. Her hair looked a bit tussled with her moving about in her sleep, but her snores were just as cute as they've always been. And of course, there was just a small…problem with the situation. It went in line with the True Ancestor's…peculiar sleeping habits.

That was shown by the slow adjusting beneath the sheets while the woman muttered, "Hmm~, gimme some'o that…bread~." Her breasts were now free from beneath the sheets.

…_I should be happy that I got to see them this early…but considering the fact that this is Arcueid that I'm talking about here…_ Harry muttered inwardly while he shook his head. _And I think it'd be best to not keep Akiha waiting…damn it. It should be a crime for her to look this bloody amazing!_

With great reluctance, Harry moved over to sit at Arcueid's bedside. He reached out, caressing the woman's face gently. Arcueid's face moves closer to it on instinct. Now a low humming sound was put out, much similar to how Len would do whenever she was in her cat form.

"Have I ever told you that you act more like a cat than you should be, Arcueid?" Harry asked with a slight smirk.

The True Ancestor gave no indication that she was awake, so therefore no answer was giving. Only the purring came from her throat. Deciding that enough was enough from there, Harry pressed on her body with his hand, gently moving her. Her response was a small grunt before the continued snoring.

Next, Harry pushed a bit harder, earning him a frustrated look on Arcueid's face. The vampires then turned her body around, now facing the opposite direction from Harry. This led him to give out a sigh and a roll of his eyes.

_That woman is such a child_.

He was now going to try something else, but it would seem that Arcueid may have been more conscious than he had thought. Just as he was nearing her ear, Arcueid's arm shoots up, wrapping itself around Harry, before pulling him onto the bed, in front of her 'sleeping' body.

"GAGH!" Harry choked, shocked at both the sudden event, along with the strength that Arcueid showed. He was sure that his was going to sport some form of red mark on his arm now, if not a bruise.

_Gods, that woman just doesn't know her own damn strength sometimes…_ Harry swore in his thoguhts. He then made a decision to give the girl a rude awakening right then and there.

And he was about to enact upon his improve diabolical plot, only for him to notice something different about Arcueid in that instant.

"…you're a minx, you know that?" Harry questioned in a dry tone.

His response was a giggle from the amused True Ancestor. "Gotcha~! Better luck next time~!"

Harry released a sigh, giving the woman a smile all the while. "So, what gave me away this time? I was sure that I had covered up my presence."

"And that would have worked…had I been a normal vampire," Arcueid answered. Her hands then moved upwards, placing themselves upon Harry's face. "…but not only am I a True Ancestor, you are also my partner, Harry. In more ways than any magical being could ever begin to comprehend to that. I can feel your presences _anywhere_, at _any time_. I just simply got lucky when it had felt you arriving in Misaki today. Ooh~, maybe we can catch up on the time we missed since you left me here…"

Arcueid had ended that statement with a pout, which, again, had Harry curse it and demand it to be labeled as a Level 4 Distraction spell. No one could dare resist such a dangerous spell, not even that damn Troll.

"Arcueid, let me remind that both you and Len had all but _begged_ me to let you two come back here. I had also told you to contact me whenever you feel up to traveling again; in which you hadn't done as such," Harry sighed.

"…"

"I am _not_ hearing anything out of you, Len. You reap what you sow," Harry retorted.

"Mou~, don't be so mean to us. You could have at least tried to contact us if you wanted to see us," Arcueid commented.

"I did that as well, but Akiha had said that the both of you were just fine. Am I being led to believe that someone has been lying here?"

Harry had made out that statement to be a jest, but had covered it up with a calm, serious façade. It was obviously doing its job since the woman, and Len by proxy since she was right behind her, still standing, were squirming under his gaze. The stern gaze then gave way to an easy going smirk that in turn made Arcueid puff her cheeks.

"Hmph! Meanie!" Arcueid huffed.

Harry released a chuckle before saying, "You know, we should get back up. Akiha will probably go spare if we don't get to her soon."

"Imouto-chan can wait! I wanna spend some more time with you~!" Arcueid whined.

Len seemed to be in agreement as she had hopped onto the bed, next to Harry. She seemed to be content at lying next to him, though no one could really tell for the life of them.

"See! Len agree's too!" Arcueid added.

"…"

"Oh, well, you're right about that, Len. Hmm, maybe we can let Imouto-chan join in like last time?"

"Let's not go there for the moment you two," Harry butted in, with great reluctance. "I'd like to do the same, but we do have more important matters to attend to."

Arcueid merely stared at him for a few minutes, judging on whether or not she should follow her partner's suggestions. After seeing the resolution and determination in them, she knew full well that this was not the time to play, much to her obvious dismay. But, as not only as his partner, but his lover too, she complied.

"_Nyaa~!_" Arcueid yawned, which led to Harry eyeing her…assets moving up and down. The smirk that he had then seen on the True Ancestor's face only led him to believe that she was having fun with it.

"Alright, alright, I'll get up," Arcueid sighed as she got up from the bed. And then, Harry was sure that the woman had known about his coming here sooner than he'd think, what with her walking in _see-through _ panties of all Gods be damned undergarments.

…_bloody vampire_, Harry swore inwardly, before he too rose from the bed with Len in tow.

A little bit later, the three walked back into Akiha's office, where Hisui and Kohaku had set up a tray with tea and some snacks. He snuck a glance at Arcueid while they entered the room. Due to her status, she hadn't changed a bit, save for her hair being slightly longer than before, her crimson eyes had a more 'sparkly' flair to them, her fangs were reduced to a more human size, and her clothes.

Taking in with the current times, she wore a light threaded, white long-sleeve shirt that had a small turtle neck collar. It was accompanied by a small necklace that dangled across her bosom, with a crescent moon as the centerpiece. And instead of the long skirt she used to wear, she now wore a mini skirt that went up to halfway her thighs, which isn't much as her legs are really long. In any matter, her legs were covered by black leggings, which in turn led to her having dark brown boots.

Akiha had seen them coming in and had greeted them on the spot, with her patented snark. "So, you three _finally_ decided to come back. I was beginning to think that I would have to _fetch_ the lot of you myself. I would have been extremely _displeased_ if I were to do that, and then to have found the two of you _fornicating_ with each other…_without me_."

_Must be Akiha's time changing time…again_, Harry commented in his thoughts while a bead of sweat rolled down his head. She always grew this…blunt every time her _other side_ reared its ugly head.

"Ara, ara~, what debauchery~. To think that the pure and innocent Akiha-sama, that we used to hold dear in our hearts, would willingly commit herself to such heinous acts~?!" Kohaku shouted, looking ready to swoon.

"Nee-san, you're one to talk," Hisui deadpanned. "You commit such things in your lab…on a daily basis, and usually involving none of the things that Akiha-sama is referring to. That is if you're not being a voyeur."

"Details, details!"

"…what was that, Kohaku?"

"Mou, Imouto-chan, what's the deal here? I was having a nice nap," Arcueid butted in with a whining tone while she took a seat on the couch, conveniently next to Harry of course.

Akiha glared at the impish-looking maid/mad scientist before releasing a scoff at the True Ancestor. "Please dear, as if I would hold an interest to interrupt your _cat nap_. Unfortunately, we have business to do with Hadrian-kun that is of the utmost importance!"

She then looked at Harry with fluttering eyes. "Of course, it will have to wait until everyone gets here, which will be about dinnertime. In the meantime, I think that we will utilize this opportunity to have some tea, snacks, and perhaps a bit of _bonding_ too."

Harry twitched, knowing full well on what she was hinting at. And he would have a snippy comeback for it, had the doors not opened again. And behind those two doors were two people, one young man with a slight psychotic penchant for cutting things, and a blue haired, curry obsessed Executor.

"Akiha-san, we've returned from the patrol. Unfortunately, we did not find what had caused the disturbance. The leyline barriers were already in the process in healing itself when we got there in any matter," the blue haired woman explained as she walked in, not noticing her lover now glaring at a bemused looking Harry and Arcueid.

Akiha rubbed the bridge of her nose, noting the giggling Kohaku and a still deadpan Hisui. "Ciel…I had figured that out _way_ before you came in. And Nii-san, quit glaring at Hadrian-kun. It's demeaning of you to do so; and just plain juvenile."

"…I'm really hating you now," Shiki Tohno stated through gritting teeth. "Do you have _any_ idea on how much of a hassle investigating something that wasn't even much of a bother? I knew – I had _just known_ that you were involved with this. And don't even get me started on what you had Len make me go through…_on a nightly basis_."

"And here Len was telling me you were enjoying those dreams," Harry teased.

"THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT-er-NO! SHUT UP!"

"Nii-san! Quit harassing Hadrian-kun!"

"Ara, ara, Shiki-san was having an increased number of lewd dreams. I thought that was his puberty finally breaking through," Kohaku commented with a sly smirk.

Hisui then added in, much to Shiki's further dismay. "That is true. Shiki-sama's sheets had been wet on more than the normal amount of times. It's become quite the hassle in cleaning them every day."

"Not you too!"

"Nii-san! Can't you keep your lewd desires intact?! Mou, I find it hard to believe that you're supposed to become head of the family if you're wetting your bed."

"Hmhm~. I didn't know that Shiki-san is such a baby. My, it makes me kind of glad about certain things…"

"RAGH!"

While that debacle was going on, Ciel had finally taken notice of the evermore bemused Harry and had greeted him promptly. "Ah-ara, good afternoon, Hadrian-senpai. I'm-I'm sorry for not fully preparing for your arrival. Th-the Church would have been able to accommodate you-"

"It's fine, Ciel. And you know that I usually stay at the Tohno manor nowadays," Harry waved off. He then took note of the young woman's appearance, which hadn't changed much. The only difference was a slight change in height and her hair being a bit longer.

"Huh, you've changed your hair. What seemed to be the occasion?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing. I thought that Tohno-kun would like it if I were to have to longer," Ciel explained while she fingered a strain of hair with a melancholy expression.

"…the idiot hasn't noticed yet, has he?"

"Unfortunately, no. And it's been a few months since the change was made…evident."

Harry shook his head while taking a glance at the said young man, who was now trying to appease his younger sibling…badly. "And he's still intact? I'd have thought that you'd have torn him a new one for that."

"No, I could not do that to him, no matter how much of a dense buffoon he is."

Harry stared at the woman with a raised brow, clearly not believing that she did not do a single thing in retribution.

"…well, I guess I should say that I had 'mentioned' my ire to his teacher. She was quite displeased with it."

Harry blinked at that, not sure on how to take that statement before a nigh invisible smirk formed. "…I'm going to have that over her the next time I see her. I'm sure she'll appreciate it greatly. Nice job on that, by the way."

"Thank you," Ciel thanked with a small bow while she took a seat on a chair to Harry's left, pointedly ignoring the glare the True Ancestor sent her way. "And, if you do not mind me asking, Harry-senpai, but what brings you back over to Misaki?"

"Business, Ciel. In fact, I can say that I'm glad that you're here. You can hopefully bring in some new perspective on this subject. But, that'll have to wait until after dinner. I'd rather explain everything at one go."

"That is understandable then. We usually do something similar with my fellow Executors before going on missions," Ciel nodded. She then glared at him. "In any matter, I must express my displeasure at your trickery. Like Tohno-kun, your antics give me headaches. You should know better than to result to such childish actions considering your status and-"

"If you want, I'll be happy to give you some new curry recipes that I've gathered across the world," Harry offered.

"…of course, you must have had a good reason for it. Who am I to judge on if you were using such tactics?"

Harry grinned at her while pulling out some pieces of paper. "So glad you agreed with me. As thanks, here are those recipes. I'm sure that you, Seven, and your idiot boyfriend will love them. Speaking of which, where is the little buster?"

Ciel blinked as she pocketed the recipes in her pocket. "Hm? She is at Arihiko-san's house…again. I don't know why she prefers staying over there over my house."

_I can think of several reasons why,_ Harry commented in his head while the woman ranted off about how she was a 'good Master' and how she treated the conceptualized weapon/spirit like any other person and all that rot.

And this was going on while the others were having at Shiki for being his so-called 'deviously perverted self'. Well, Hisui just continued to try and stay out of the play-fight, and Len was content at becoming a cat again, now lying down between Arcueid and Harry. And so the day continued on at the Tohno manor, with Harry feeling at home like he usually did.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::

_**(A few hours later)(Location: Tohono Manor – Akiha's Study)**_

It was now after an eventful dinner at the Tohno Manor, and everyone was now seated at Akiha's study, with the inclusion of some new guests. Harry had taken his usual spot at the couch, next to Akiha's desk, with Len in her human form sitting above on the top edge of the couch. Arcueid sat next to him with a content look on her face, though her eyes had an intuitive gleam to them.

Next to her sat another young woman of a similar nature to Arcueid, though she was a Dead Apostle Ancestor instead, albeit a strange at that. She had brown hair flowing down pass her shoulders, with her red tinted brown eyes accompanying her status. Her clothes was a modified version of her old high school uniform, with her blouse being gray while being covered by a black jacket, her knee length skirt being colored black, and her shoes brown. This is Satsuki Yumizuka, a student-turned-Vampire by the hands of Roa a few years back.

Not only was she a good friend to Harry, the Tohno family, and Ciel, but she was also in charge of her own pseudo-mercenary group known as the Back Alley Alliance. There were two other members, who were standing by Satsuki's side. One was an older woman in accordance to Satsuki. She wore her traditional uniform befitting her status as an alchemist from the organization, Atlas, with her Etherlite dangling on her wrist. Her purple hair was set in a long braided ponytail that complimented her purple eyes. This was Sion Eltnam Atlasia, a fellow vampire to Satsuki.

The third and final member of their little group was another older woman, and a pretty tall, muscular one at that. She wore her normal black jacket over her gray padded blouse with a long white skirt that covered her black pants. Her light gray eyes were as cold and deadpan like always, as well as they accompanied her light gray hair that was set in a short ponytail. Her weapon of choice, True Apocrypha, was dematerialized into an armlet on left forearm. This was Riesbyfe Stridberg, a Shield Knight from the Church.

Now, going back to around the office, Hisui and Kohaku were standing on the other side of the room, with Kohaku grinning impishly at the miffed Shiki and Ciel, and Hisui preparing the tea. Said duo was sitting on a couch/chair hybrid next to Akiha's desk. The former of the two was busy trying not to look at anyone, while trying to send out short, nigh unnoticeable glares at the bemused Harry, who was the source of his ire. Ciel on the other hand was just annoyed at her lover falling for such obvious traps set up by her senpai. And she had half the mind on chastising said man about his antics again…but then again, he always did come back with excellent curry recipes in hand. He was such a good senpai to her.

Akiha was content with sitting at her desk, glaring at her brother for not only embarrassing her in front of her guests, which so happened to include her lover, and for him not doing anything to correct her. She could only sigh at him, wondering about the fate of the Tohno family once she would pass down the title of head of the family to him…that is, if that time comes at all.

And then there was the last addition to their little group, which was another source of Akiha's ire. Somehow, the little brat of the Arima family, Miyako, had found out about her pseudo-sensei, AKA Harry, coming over and has rushed through the door, uninvited nonetheless. Hisui had of course decked her with a chair before the girl could do anything else. After she had recovered, she had spent her time either trying to get a spar with Harry, or to once again try and convince Shiki to come back with her.

She now was sitting cross-legged, next to Harry on the floor. She had grown a bit over the years. She was about 4'11"; her hair was a little bit longer now, with her two bangs set up with pair of light blue ribbons. Her outfit was a change too, for it was a dark blue Chinese fighter shirt that covered her light blue shirt and a pair of blue jean shorts. She was happy that her sensei/brother-figure was back, but her disposition only allowed her to hold a neutral expression. She had found it to be a better alternative than by constantly scowling.

Wanting to get things started, Sion coughed into her hand to get everyone's attention. "I thank you for inviting us over for dinner, but I take it that this isn't really a social calling."

Akiha shook her head before answering, "No, Sion. As much as I want it to be, Hadrian-kun here has important information that he thinks will need our input."

"Mou~, and here I was hoping to catch up with Harry-kun," Satsuki pouted.

"Hush, hush, dead girl. We can do that later," Arcueid chastised, earning her a glare from Satsuki.

"Well then, let's cut to the chase then," Riesbyfe stated before looking at Harry. "Hadrian, what do you require of us? Is it a mission?"

Harry adjusted his seating while pulling out the metal disk. "To be frank, yes. It is something that I would prefer saying it all at once, which is why you all are here tonight. I'll start with this: I found someone who is a bearer of a _V Memoriae planis signationem_."

"**WHAT?!**" a collection of voices shouted as some people jumped out of their seats, if they were sitting, or were paling.

"Harry, are you _**sure**_ that someone is a bearer of a _V Memoriae planis signationem_?" Sion asked. "If so, how is it that he has _**survived**_?!"

"That's what I had asked earlier," Akiha added in.

Ciel interceded on that. "Now, hold on. We don't know if this is one of the lower tier seals. For all we know, it could just be a disguised-"

"It has been confirmed by the Kansai Association's best Healers that it is indeed a _V Memoriae planis signationem_, the _Key Crinem Memoria_ to be precise," Harry explained in a grim tone.

"…then again, it could be worse. **Much worse**," Ciel finished in a dark tone.

"This is bad. That is really, _**really**_ bad Hadrian," Riesbyfe muttered lowly. "And I sorely hope that you have at least done something to weaken it?"

"I did, actually, before I had exited _her_ mind. But, what adds onto it is that this blasted thing has been administered to her for _**years**_," Harry further explained as he leaned his head on his folded hands. "The reasons as to why she had been able to survive, let alone remain sane is unknown to me, but I surmise that it had something to do with the fake memories that I had destroyed. As of now, though, her memories are leaking through, and she will start exhibiting the symptoms of a bearer soon."

"I-I'm sorry, but I have no idea what's going on here," Shiki commented. "Wh-what's so bad about this?"

"H-hai, I-I think I-I w-would like to kn-know too," Miyako nodded.

"Many things, Shiki-san, Miyako-san," Sion said with a dark look. "There is a reason as to why it was banned. While it had its good intentions, the affects that come out of it were far too much of a risk."

"It is so debauched, that even the Church has deemed it blasphemous on the same grounds as defiling the Ten Commandments, along with it disturbing the natural order of the human mind," Ciel chimed in, with Riesbyfe nodding in agreement.

"Even I know about it too," Arcueid commented with narrowed eyes. "I myself had encountered a few bearers that were under a Dead Apostle's machinations. It is something that I would _**not**_ want to see again on anyone anytime soon."

"Ano, if I may say," Kohaku called out, earning her everyone's attention, "Harry-sama sounded like he is familiar with this bearer. Could it be that she is someone that you know?"

"…she is," Harry answered in a low tone, with his hair covering his eyes. Everyone knew then and there that he was barely containing his rage.

"…Akiha, Len, Arcueid, remember when I told you about that girl I knew, the one that could _that ability_ and all that?" He waited until they each got what he was talking about before nodding, allowing him to continue. "Alright, then know that this is the same girl as before. For those of you who don't know, her name, the name of which we had come up together, is Yuuki Asuna, which is what i will refer to her as; the name that she was forced to go by now is Kagurazaka Asuna, so its' easy to say that that name is null. Her real name though is Asuna Vesperina Theotanasia Entheofushia. Judging from your reactions, I think you get the gist of how _**dire**_ the situation is in her case, and mine for personal reasons."

"…wh-where is she then?" Satsuki asked after a few minutes of silence reigned.

"Oddly enough, the safest place where she could be is also the most dangerous, for the bastards that had the seal put on her in the first place are there. I'm sure all of you are aware of Mahora Academy?"

"_That_ place? It'd be hell getting in there, especially if the bastards as you so lightly put it are there, without them knowing," Akiha stated.

"Luckily for us then, I had gotten some help. I was able to find out about it while the class that Asuna is in was taking a field trip to Tokyo, to where I ended up helping them kill off a pseudo-daiyokai, and apprehending a member of the Kensei Association and an Averruncus homunculus, due to said Kensei member being a complete bint about some sort of revenge or whatever.

Anyway, I was able to gain the help of several people, including some fellow classmates of Asuna. One of which was so kind as to give me a map of the Mahora leyline system, including all the holes and weak points. We can enter through those points."

Harry then pulled out a folded map, unfolding it in the process, and placed it on the center coffee table. "This is basically what we are dealing with in terms of Mahora's defenses, which is not much to say. They have been relying on their giant tree for too long that the leylines have degraded from lack of proper care and adjustment. Getting in would be easy, but the fixing of Asuna will be the fun part. The one who had given me this though has a good location for us to work with, for she had spent a _lot_ of time there."

"Who is your contact then?" Sion asked.

"An unofficial Dead Apostle Ancestor known as Evangeline A.K. McDowell," Harry answered simply, earning him a gasp of shock from Arcueid.

"Really? Her? I'd thought that someone had put her out?" said True Ancestor asked.

"I'm sorry, but I am not familiar with this one," Ciel commented.

"Me and Sion don't know here either, Harry-kun, Arcueid," Satsuki chimed in with a sheepish shake of her head, along with Sion.

"Well, you don't do much interactivity with _Mundus Magica_, so it's not all that surprising," Harry stated.

"I don't know much about her myself, but I had thought that she was a possible incarnation to Roa. Fortunately, she isn't, but from my single encounter with her about a century or two ago, she can be just as evil and twisted as Roa," Arcueid explained. She then scratched her hair in contemplation. "I thought that after my fight with her she had either died or someone finished her off. I guess she's more elusive than I had thought."

"In any matter," Harry interceded, "From what I know, because of her reputation and her status, she is an unofficial Dead Apostle Ancestor, probably ranked in their higher tiers. It doesn't even include her being a master of ice magicks, and her being one of the very few practitioners of the _Magia Erebea_."

"…if that is so, then how is she left alive by the Church, the Magus Association, or even any of the armies in _Mundus Magica_?" Akiha asked.

"Well, to be fair, if neither of us knew about her, then it should be noted that the Church either just didn't have enough information on her, or just wanted us to stay away from her out of ignorance and fear," Ciel surmised.

"And it is widely known that the Magus Association doesn't really care that much for anything so long as it doesn't involve revealing magic to the known Mundane Earth, save for recent times in the Americas," Sion explained. Harry had to hold back a reaction from that last comment. "And if this Evangeline is as powerful as she is, without having to reveal magic to the world, then the Magus Association would have just left her be. That doesn't count bounty hunters and other Magus wanting to capture for profit and other purposes."

"Hold on, let's get back on track," Shiki interceded before looking to Harry. "Harry, are you sure that she can be trusted? If she is this dangerous, then shouldn't we take precautions to, I don't know, take her out?"

"That would have been the case, had I not had a good look at her eyes," Harry answered, earning him some looks. "I know, I know, but trust me on this. She reminds me a lot of my Aunt Fatima back in my home realm, _along with some other people_, and I think that we can probably help her out. Her eyes just scream loneliness and sadness, which is just depressing for me to look at.

I think that her reputation may be more in line with the case of no one ever giving a damn for what she herself felt about her status and life. And plus, I think she may have mellowed out a good deal while being incarcerated in Mahora for 10 years."

"…I'll go by your word then," Arcueid nodded.

Miyako then asked, "Wait, so we are basically going to be helping out your friend. Just what exactly are _we_ supposed to be doing, Harry-sensei?"

Happy for the change in topic, Harry uses the metal disk to project the two idiots. "These two are the ones who had put on the seal, so we will need to apprehend them. They are known as Takamichi Takahata and Albiero Imma."

"Two members of the _Ala Rubra_..." Riesbyfe commented.

"Well, that makes things fun then," Akiha snarked.

Harry nodded. "Yes. Being who they are, they will not be easy people to deal with. But luckily, we do have some advantages. For one, for as far as I know, Takahata has been out of practice for a good amount of years and is currently a teacher at Mahora. That doesn't mean we should hold back on him though.

I do not know where Imma is, but he more than likely somewhere at Mahora. Probably next to a library or something, nor do I know if he has been practicing and what not. The good thing is though, I know his weakness."

"And what would that be?" Sion asked with a raised brow.

"The idiot's a hopeless perverted lolicon," Harry deadpanned, which in turn led to some spit takes, "which is why whoever goes after at the time must have Len with them. She should be able to put him to sleep with her illusions, even they have to be…those kinds."

"That…is not the image I had wanted to see," Satsuki moaned while she cleaned herself up with a napkin.

"…I think I could run a few simulations and calculations on possible routes, Harry," Sion stated thoughtfully. "Is this all of the information that we have for the moment?"

"For now, yes. But know that I have already called for someone else to meet up with us when we get there. One thing I know is that you, I, Akiha, and some other people I have recruited from Mahora will have to be the ones curing Asuna. The rest will have to be divided as a defensive force for where my group is stationed, while we have two smaller offensive squads to deal with Takahata and Imma."

"That seems to be the probable course of action," Sion nodded.

"Then who is going with whom then? Cause there is no way I am being paired with Ciel this time," Arcueid asked.

Ciel twitched. "Well, I wouldn't want to be paired with that failure of a vampire either. So, please, make sure that we stay as _far apart_ as possible."

Shiki only sighed at the two. "Come on, are the both of you really going to be starting on this now of all times?"

"Regardless of…_personal preferences_, we should properly divide to what you and Sion see as the best choices, Hadrian-kun," Akiha stated.

Harry sat still for a few minutes, with his eyes showing a bit of gold. It only showed just how much thought he was putting into this. He then got up, walked over to Sion, and whispered to Sion about something. Said woman thought on what he said for a few minutes before nodding and adding in her two cents.

They had soon agreed to further discuss on tactics later on if everyone were to agree to their current arrangement.

"…then it should be noted that I have someone else will be meeting us at Mahora. Knowing her, she will want to show her _improved performances_ on someone, so, it'll be likely that she will be tagging along with Len in the retrieval of Imma if her illusions prove to not be as effective on him as I would hope it to be. That said; it would be better for Satsuki and Arcueid to go with them on this to apprehend Imma. Though, I will stress that if he doesn't comply, you are to _not_ let him summon his Pactio. That damnable hack of an Artéfact of his will more than likely spell the end of you. I do not care if you even half to result to your Reality Marble, Satsuki; the same goes for you Arcueid, though you should only need to release about maybe 40% to about half of your power. Just put him down, and put him down _fast_.

Now, the rest of the others not in that group and mine will remain on the outside. Miyako, you will serve as part of the line of defense, along with the other classmates and whoever else is there to help out. If some people were to come, one of the other students is a pretty good practitioner of Kung Fu, so have fun with her."

Miyako now had a slight change in demeanor. Her eyes were tense, though the challenging glint in them showed that she was very excited at being able to fight someone new. It did not include having the chance to show her sensei how much she had improved. Not whatsoever.

"Finally, you three, Ciel, Riesbyfe, and Shiki will be serving as both the secondary defensive/offensive force. You will be defensive if Miyako and her group were to have some difficulty in holding off any enemies; on the flip side, you will also, if you are able to, apprehend Takahata. But be warned; he may suck as a Mage, but he has his own Pactio cards from his fellow _Ala Rubra_ members, that I do not know of unfortunately, and that doesn't include his proficiency in _Kankahō_. And if need be, Shiki, I'm sure that we won't mind with him missing a…limb or two."

Shiki blinked, not really expecting that. "Ano, but what about if I-er, you know…"

"Shiki," Harry sighed, using the young man's real name this time, "I am well aware that people do die whenever you cut them or whatever you do. But, you need this kind of fight. Not only will it give you more experience fighting human opponents, it should also help you learn on how to use proper restrain, or to better control your murderous impulses. And if all else fails in that-"

"-then me or Riesbyfe can knock Tohno-kun out in order to prevent any casualties," Ciel finished with a nod in understanding.

"That's pretty much the gist of it," Harry concluded before moving back to his seat. "Now, I think we should adjourn our meeting from here. Everyone should get ready to leave for Mahora, hopefully by the end of tomorrow at the earliest. Time is of the essence, but try and bring what you need for your group. And Sion, please stay over for a bit longer so we and Akiha can generate a good few stratagems and scenarios for each team. And if you would, Hisui and Kohaku, try and find the proper books about the unsealing of the _Key Crinem Memoria_."

"It should be in the Tohno library, section 1556," Akiha added in as the two maids left.

A short while later, after some of their group had left to their respective rooms or to return to their homes, all that was left in the room currently were Harry, Akiha, Sion, Arcueid, who stayed there to make sure that Akiha wouldn't try to have any fun with Harry yet, and Len, who was now in her cat form, sleeping on the window sill.

"So," Akiha began, wanting to cut to the chase, "what had you left out?"

"…well, one of the students I had mentioned earlier…had sort of become one of Pactio members," Harry answered slowly.

"I _knew it_!" Arcueid exclaimed with a snap of her fingers. "I knew that there was someone else's scent on you that I didn't recognize! So…who's the new sister?"

"_No_, Arcueid, she is _not_ a part of our group. Not on my watch," Akiha grounded out.

"…does this have anything to do with us planning strategies?" Sion asked slowly.

"No, but to Akiha, it is important. Just let her go at it. I'll probably get grilled for it later on anyhow."

"…hai," Sion nodded. "Well, I have already calculated some possible plans for Arcueid's group, if you were to say who else is coming with them?"

"Let's hear what you got first before I say anything," Harry bartered as he rubbed his hands together. And from there on, the four of them went through a series of simulations for the mission. And they made sure that for each simulation to assert the flaws of possible back-ups. They had to, for they had to make sure that this succeeded. No matter the costs.

_**AN: And that is the end of that. Plans are now being developed, and more characters are introduced. Also, the Type-Moon connection has been made. Their characters should have been done right…at least I think they were. In any matter, as in regards to timeline wise, they are several years older than from the events of Tsukihime and Melty Blood, though, I should say that I am not counting Kagetsu Tohya as I had not played it yet. And as since they are older, they obviously look different. To be frank though, I am basing most of their designs for the Tsukihime remake, for those of you who aren't aware. I think there is a video trailer about it on Youtube somewhere…**_

_**Oh, and for those who will no doubt say that Harry can't possible be that old, please refer to chapter one, and read VERY CLOSELY on how I describe Harry.**_

_**Sorry, off topic. Next point; yes, yes, Akiha and Arcueid are in on Harry's 'group'. You could say that he had his own special if not unorthodox way in curbing their…impulses I should say. Personally, I am not quite sure that it could be done in the way that I have conjured, at least in regards to Arcueid and Akiha, but I think that there could have at least been some sort of sealing implications when it came to it. But, that doesn't mean that Harry has to provide Akiha with 'certain needs' should her demon blood rear its head through the seals, not that he isn't reluctant to jump in at any matter.**_

_**Alright. Next time, things get started as Harry's party invades Mahora. And also, another character will be introduced, as she is a key part to the squad venturing to get Albiero.**_

**_Now,__as always, please leave a review for me to see. And if you have any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, and/or compliments, leave it in the reviews or send me a PM about it. Until then, ja ne!_**

**_PS: I will open up two forums to where you all can convene, talk, argue, and/or speculate about this story, and Fate/Magic Disruption. I'll be there as much as I can to answer questions, and maybe perhaps give out a hint or two here and there. Have fun!_**


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